Pentagon, Congress trade words on war budget

[unhappycamper]

Pentagon, Congress trade words on war budget
By William H. McMichael and Rick Maze - Staff writers
Posted : Tuesday Nov 20, 2007 18:22:06 EST

The Army and Marine Corps will run out of cash to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and all other operations in early 2008, and lay off tens of thousands of civilian employees and contractors, if Congress does not quickly pass a $178 billion war supplemental spending bill, a Pentagon spokesman warned Tuesday.

“When we run out of money from the base budget and we do not have a supplemental budget to fund the global war on terror, we have no more means by which to fund the war,” said Geoff Morrell, the Defense Department press secretary, in the latest in a series of warnings to lawmakers about the potential consequences looming for the services.

Operations at all Army and Marine Corps bases would be “all but shut down,” he said, and the Defense Department would able to provide only the most basic safety and security for residents.

The Navy and Air Force would also run out of money operations and maintenance later in the year, but Morrell could not provide an estimate of when that could happen.

The Pentagon also will have to begin notifying some 200,000 civilian and contract workers just before Christmas that without new funding, they will be furloughed “within a matter of weeks,” Morrell said during a Pentagon news conference.

Morrell said this step would have to be taken first because in some cases, a 60-day notification is required in order to furlough a government employee for 30 days. While contracts can be canceled or stopped at any time, he said, contractors have to comply with Defense Department regulations by providing the 60 days’ notice.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/military_warfunds_071120w/

[RC]

1. Well maybe if the Pentagon could find a pallet or two of the money they sent to Iraq

they could afford to fund the war for another 6 months or so, ya think?