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| Congress Should Cut Military Spending, Says Democrat Barney Frank |
| 2009-02-26 |
| Congress should cut U.S. military spending by $160 billion, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, proposed at a press conference Tuesday. That same day, however, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who controls the House floor schedule, distanced himself and the majority leadership from Frank's proposal -- and both the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services declined to endorse Frank's plan. "It's absurd to talk about reducing the deficit while giving a pass to the military budget," Frank told reporters. "We can reduce military spending without in any way undercutting our national security." Frank's plan, according to a document released by his office, would reduce military spending by a total of $160 billion, with $100 billion of the savings coming from money currently being spent on the Iraq War. Other cuts would include a reduction of about 75 percent in the funding requested by the Bush administration for "nuclear forces," as well as deep funding cuts for the development of controversial weapon systems, including a tilt-rotor aircraft (V-22 Osprey) and stealth fighter jet (F/A-22 Raptor.) For fiscal year 2008, President Bush requested $481.4 billion for Defense Department spending and an additional $145.2 billion to fund the "global war on terror," which he requested as emergency supplemental spending. "No one is denying that America should be by far the strongest country in the world," said Frank. "But we are talking about by how many multiples we have to be the strongest nation in the world, and whether or not there is some money to be saved in doing that." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #15 Bwany, you are a friggin genius. How about Massachusetts getting a real Congressman? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-02-26 18:54 |
| #14 Actually, the ongoing knife fight among the Dems over military spending is going to be fun to watch. Remember, the Pentagon and defense contractors have spent years putting plants in every major district; with the recession going on, Congress critters will fight to the death to keep those plants open and running -- high paying jobs with good benefits. Some of the really expensive high tech programs like the F-35 might take some hits, but the bread and butter programs like the vehicle replacement program will not be cut; as a matter of fact, I expect to see programs like that actually increased to "replace all the equipment wasted by Bushitler in his illegal wars" (actual statement from one of the Congress critters concerned). |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2009-02-26 16:38 |
| #13 Hell, why don't we just cut ALL the military spending? Imagine all the money THAT would save! I mean, now that The One is in charge, everybody loves us, right? Freakin' dumbass..... |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2009-02-26 15:32 |
| #12 There's not a helluva lot of military bases left up here to close. Hanscom AFB, Westover and Otis (AFReserve bases), Natick Labs, and some various small Coast Guard bases. One or two of the minor coastie bases might be in Barney's district, but that's about it. It might be fun to do something like threaten to cut back on AIDS research, just to see how pissed off that would get him. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-26 13:45 |
| #11 Rush calls him the Banking Queen and Shanklin made a parody song out the old ABBA hit. This is just the beginning of losing our officer and seasoned NCO corp and turning the remaining members over to the Obama Re-education Corp. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2009-02-26 11:05 |
| #10 There's a lot of garbage in the procurements part of the defense budget. We could use another Senator Truman, to be honest. Instead, we've got Barney Frank, Jack Murtha, and the rest of their sort, who are just interested in clearing a space at the trough by knifing some of their fellow swine. I tell you what, how about we start with anything with Murtha's fingerprints all over it? |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-02-26 10:16 |
| #9 First we cut all the port from the defense budget that's been added by the Massachusetts delegation. Then we close all the bases in Massachusetts. Then we see what's left. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-02-26 09:47 |
| #8 Bawney should stick to interior decorating. His knowledge of military matters is about as deep as my knowledge of color coordination. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-02-26 07:58 |
| #7 He can start by cutting the $900m just approved for Hamas |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-02-26 07:32 |
| #6 Is this the same Bawney Fwank that played clutch butt with Herb Moses, Executive of |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2009-02-26 06:19 |
| #5 Frank told reporters "We can reduce military spending without in any way undercutting our national security." This is the same guy who refuted Republican efforts to better regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie by proclaimming they were "financially sound" and well run. |
| Posted by: GK 2009-02-26 04:09 |
| #4 Nah cut spending as he asked, defund his office, salary and pension. |
| Posted by: Rednek Jim 2009-02-26 01:39 |
| #3 how bout cutting his balls off would that suffice |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-02-26 00:47 |
| #2 yeah cut defense spending while we are at war on 2 fronts moron, and a 3rd coming up on the texas border |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-02-26 00:46 |
| #1 "It's absurd to talk about reducing the deficit while giving a pass to the military budget," Frank told reporters. "We can reduce military spending without in any way undercutting our national security." Conversely,it would be absurd to pass a .75 trillion spending bill without including a prime core government function, defense. Truly amazing and breathtaking garbage, in Franks standing before microphones and declaring defense needs to be cut after overspending everywhere else. And it is no wonder the democrat house leadership will not include spending cuts for defense, especially after planning to increase every other part of the federal budget. |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-02-26 00:19 |