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2011-01-08 Home Front: WoT
Pentagon aims to cut budget, slash troops
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Posted by Fred 2011-01-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ]  Top

#1 Yup O'shit continues to destroy America, how better than to force us to lose this War?
Posted by Redneck Jim 2011-01-08 05:41||   2011-01-08 05:41|| Front Page Top

#2 How about mandating every other Federal department match dollar for dollar each and every cut at DoD? No waivers.
Posted by Procopius2k 2011-01-08 07:56||   2011-01-08 07:56|| Front Page Top

#3 But Gates said the military had to play its part in getting US finances in order.

What might one expect a former CIA officer to say and do, the very first opportunity he has.
Posted by Besoeker 2011-01-08 08:21||   2011-01-08 08:21|| Front Page Top

#4 Let me get this straight....

Spending trillions on shit the Feds have no business doing (Stimulus, Cash-for-Clunkers, ObumblesCare, TARP, etc..) is ok.

But we need to trim Billions from the Federal Governments primary responsibility - because having the Feds actually do the job they are supposed to do is bad.

Sounds like 1984 is only about 27 years late....
Posted by CrazyFool 2011-01-08 08:28||   2011-01-08 08:28|| Front Page Top

#5 The old republicans veterans must be weeded out. The new generals and admirals are nearly in place. Obama will build new gay and adoring legions in his image.
Posted by Besoeker 2011-01-08 08:32||   2011-01-08 08:32|| Front Page Top

#6 The smart move is to offer these veterans jobs in a new American Foreign Legion, an offshore corporation managed by someone like Xe (Blackwater), who would subcontract for high-cost, low intensity missions in the future.

This would save a ton of money, by not wasting our professional military on "stand around with a rifle" missions.
Posted by  Anonymoose 2011-01-08 09:26||   2011-01-08 09:26|| Front Page Top

#7 As the biggest part of the discretionary federal budget

So I was headed for the same conclusion as P2K - who said the rest of the budget was not discretionary? If Congress were really interested in "fairness". there'd be a x% across-the-board cut.

If the Pentagon can eliminate waste and cut under-performing programs, so can DOE. TSA. DOJ. Commerce. And Congress.

x = 20 comes to mind, but I'm sure I'd be criticized for that modest proposal!
Posted by Bobby 2011-01-08 10:02||   2011-01-08 10:02|| Front Page Top

#8 Lets cut the USAID budget to zero first. Then kill NPR.
Posted by 49 Pan 2011-01-08 10:19||   2011-01-08 10:19|| Front Page Top

#9 Let's not make the mistake of assuming that the defense budget is so sacrosanct that one could never cut anything in it.

$78 billion over five years is about $16 billion a year. I'll bet I could find that much in defense spending to cut. Give me a week with the books.

Of course, I could also find that $100 billion the House Pubs are suddenly reluctant to cut.

And more.

As an average, ordinary, reasonably intelligent American, I can audit numbers and find stuff that we shouldn't be spending money on. I bet all of us here at the Burg could do so.

Defense spending isn't holy. We spend on Defense what we need to spend to keep us safe, and nothing more.
Posted by Steve White 2011-01-08 10:39||   2011-01-08 10:39|| Front Page Top

#10 Planning for a "Peace Dividend" a la Clinton, when he claimed to have cut the federal workforce mostly through the reduction in the Armed Forces. But the OPTEMPO has never been higher, with most ground combat forces seeing 2nd and 3rd tours in combat zones now routinely. So reducing the force structure will be followed by "right sizing" to fit the pacification, stabilization and nation building roles that the forces have been modified to do. All because there are no looming threats!
And, China just keeps on growing its forces, its navy, its ambitions, its aggressive intentions, planting resources in South Amercia, Africa and other strategic locations to allow for interdiction of Sea Lanes of Communication, special forces ops in our hemisphere, massive indistrial spying and theft and disruption of our forward deployment/power projection locations.

Gee, its almost like they have a long term plan, and we have a short sighted socialists running the country, destroying the dollar and public confidence in our basic systems of government. Oh wait, they do and we do.....oh well, not to worry, we now have Oprah TV and healthcare...
Posted by NoMoreBS 2011-01-08 10:49||   2011-01-08 10:49|| Front Page Top

#11 Defense spending isn't holy.

I agree, but that's my point about the rest of the government as well. We've moved from over a million man Army in the 1970s to half a million today. We cut and pruned for the Peace Dividend in the 90s. Somehow its defense that gets the real cuts while all new and other existing departments bloom and grow. I don't object to cuts in defense, but its well past time that such cuts are simply an accounting gimmick to cover in other areas which have nothing to do with the Constitutionally mandated function of the national government. Thus, the cuts must be done across all departments for real savings rather than creative Hollyweird bookkeeping.
Posted by Procopius2k 2011-01-08 11:16||   2011-01-08 11:16|| Front Page Top

#12 Sounds like 1984 is only about 27 years late....

That why we call them leftards.
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2011-01-08 12:10||   2011-01-08 12:10|| Front Page Top

#13 I would say there are many things in the DoD budget that can be and should be cut and trimmed. Doing so will save the taxpayer money and keep our forces trim.

However, knowing the dhimocrats and their pantywaste, petty tyrants that will decide the cuts, it will all be the wrong stuff and will hurt the war effort while keeping the politically beneficial plans in place.
Posted by DarthVader 2011-01-08 12:27||   2011-01-08 12:27|| Front Page Top

#14 The defense budget may not be holy. But it is the number one primary duty of the Federal Government - to provide for a common defense.

Stimulus, Klunkers, Obamacare, EPA, FDA, Education, Welfare, Social Security, etc... are *not* the duties of the Fed. While some of them may be hard to cut - they still are not expressly authorized by the Constituting - except by some stretched and twisted commerce clause.
Posted by CrazyFool 2011-01-08 12:45||   2011-01-08 12:45|| Front Page Top

#15 I would rather there be welfare for our citizens than welfare for the rest of the world( of which most hate us). We could also cut the budget by getting rid of the IRS and implementing a national sales tax.
Posted by chris 2011-01-08 14:05||   2011-01-08 14:05|| Front Page Top

#16 I'm with Steve. However:

5x10e4 soldiers axed times, say, 2x10e5 cost each is 10 billion per year. So, they're going to do this almost entirely by throwing young males out of work, instead of cutting the fat out of the Pentagon etc. You can look at the military as a jobs and training program, and this isn't the right way to go in the current economy.
Posted by KBK 2011-01-08 19:59||   2011-01-08 19:59|| Front Page Top

#17 One thing high on Gates' plan is cutting military health care, because it "costs too much". This DUMBSH$$ needs to understand that military service is hard on human bodies, and the medical care we receive is basically because of that. I have it written into my second re-enlistment contract. If they cut my medical benefits, I'm liable to be a bit perturbed, and may do something to people that do sh$$ like this. That doesn't mean shooting people, like this morning's hothead, but there are many other ways to fight back. Making sure that anyone that supports this and fights for it never spends another day in government service is a good start.
Posted by Old Patriot 2011-01-08 20:15||   2011-01-08 20:15|| Front Page Top

#18 Remember 1969?

Man on the moon.

Building the Interstate Highway System.

500,000 troops in an Asian land war.

How many of those can we do today? None.

Where'd all the money go? Ask LBJ.
Posted by Bobby 2011-01-08 21:54||   2011-01-08 21:54|| Front Page Top

23:13 tipper
23:10 wr
23:09 Mikey Hunt
23:05 linker
23:03 CrazyFool
23:02 Mikey Hunt
23:01 Rambler in Virginia
22:42 tipper
22:37 NoMoreBS
21:54 Bobby
21:50 Bobby
21:43 Anguper Hupomosing9418
21:40 Chief
21:11 linker
21:04 linker
21:00 Bright Pebbles
20:38 Nimble Spemble
20:31 lord garth
20:20 Barbara Skolaut
20:15 Old Patriot
20:12 Besoeker
20:07 Old Patriot
20:03 Skunky Glins****
19:59 KBK









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