McCain's budget plan includes the same defense cuts he's attacking Obama for supporting

[bigtree]

From Newshoggers: http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2008/09/mccains-embaras.html

September 10, 2008

McCain's Embarassing FCS Gaffe

Yesterday, John McCain attacked Barack Obama saying Obama would 'slow" FCS, the future combat system which has been a procurement nightmare with corruption and overruns all around. Mccain had previously spoken out about how bad that nightmare has been.

Indeed, it's been so bad that, back in July, the McCain's campaign's senior economic adviser submitted a "plan to balance the federal budget by 2013 to The Washington Post editorial board" that specifically set out what McCain would do about it as president. Noah Shachtman at Danger Room found the relevant passage: (http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/mccain-campaign.html)

Balance the budget requires slowing outlay growth to 2.4 percent. The roughly $470 billion dollars (by 2013) in slower spending growth come from reduced deployments abroad ($150 billion; consistent with success in Iraq/Afghanistan that permits deployments to be cut by half -- hopefully more), slower discretionary spending in non-defense and Pentagon procurements ($160 billion; there are lots of procurements -- airborne laser, Globemaster, Future Combat System -- that should be ended and the entire Pentagon budget should be scrubbed).


from Monday 9/8: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/08/mccain-attacks-obama-on-military-spending/

LEE’S SUMMIT, Missouri (CNN) –John McCain is launching a new line of attack against Barack Obama, criticizing his rival for saying Sunday that he would buck his own party by calling for an increase in the size of the U.S. military.

“Of course, now he wants to increase it,” McCain told an audience in Lee’s Summit, Missouri Monday. “But during the primary he told a liberal advocacy group that he’d cut defense spending by tens of billions of dollars. He promised them he would, quote, ‘slow our development of future combat systems.’”

McCain was referring to a YouTube clip from last October that features Obama promising the non-profit group “Caucus for Priorities” that he would reduce wasteful military spending.

“I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending,” Obama said in the video. “I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems. I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development of future combat systems.”

[bigtree]

1. kick

:kick: