Joementum And The Upcoming 5% Military Budget Cut

[unhappycamper]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578048351561268008.html


My Line on Defense—No More Cuts
By JOE LIEBERMAN
October 25, 2012, 6:42 p.m. ET

There is broad consensus that when Congress reconvenes in November, it must act to prevent sequestration. That is the $500 billion cut in defense spending scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 2, which all parties agree would be catastrophic for our national security.

But as we contemplate proposals to ward off sequestration, we must not lose sight of a larger truth: Our armed forces are already under unprecedented strain because of the $487 billion in defense cuts imposed by the Budget Control Act last year. This budget reduction is delaying critical modernization programs and forcing our military to slash manpower and force structure.

That is why, in the post-election session of Congress, I won't support any debt-reduction package that requires our military to accept further cuts.

The reductions in military spending that we have already accepted weren't driven by improvements in the strategic climate facing our country. Contrary to claims that the "tide of war is receding," our national-security threats are becoming more complex and no less demanding or urgent.

[HereSince1628]

1. Everyday Americans never really expected that the promised sequestration would happen

Defense industries pull the strings of the legislators and when combined with the cry for 'JOBS!' the result is a political tsumami pushing all objections aside.

What Americans expected to happen, what they are pretty certain will happen is that social programs will take all the cuts needed to fulfill the austerity fantasies of the international financial pirates. Sloping hillsides are called cliff faces and none meaningfully challenge the characterizations.

As a veteran I find continued American defense spending a tragedy. Maintaining an absurdly outsized defense posture is more important than caring for the needs of society, and we've transitioned from having communists as enemies of the state, to being devastated by the financial pirates.

What good is an F-35 or high-tech drone or urban assault vehicles against them?