Republican Robert Gates is now a "professional leftist"

[eridani]

Seems he thinks that there is a lot of waste in the military budget that could be eliminated, which would presumably make its budget a mere sliver.

[FrenchieCat]

1. Why? Did he also confuse Obama for Bush?

He did work for both you know.

My understanding was that this was stasked to him by the admin....
so I'm not sure how this fits in with Gibbs' comment?

[TheWraith]

2. It doesn't. Just people twisting words to mean things they don't. nt

[depakid]

3. You mean like these folks:

Not having Greenwald's training in constitutional law (and perhaps lacking Olbermann's all-conquering self-confidence), we wanted to get a sense from a few independent experts as to how to assess the administration's position on the case. Does it represent a continuation of the Bushies' obsession with putting secrecy and executive power above basic constitutional rights? Is it a sweeping power grab by the executive branch, that sets set a broad and dangerous precedent for future cases by asserting that the government has the right to get lawsuits dismissed merely by claiming that state secrets are at stake, without giving judges any discretion whatsoever?

In a word, yes.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/exper...

[FrenchieCat]

5. That's just a little over 2 fucking months after being sworn in!

That's nice.

[depakid]

6. And yet it's continued

and gotten even worse.

To the point where it's worse than Bush on many points.

Far from returning accountability under the rule of law to pre-Bush norms, this administration has run even further with it.

Wow.

Most folks- cynical as we might have become didn't see that one coming.

Sadly- it hasn't helped with wooing the right, has it?

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. NYT-Mr. Gates is calling for the Pentagon’s budget to keep growing

Mr. Gates is calling for the Pentagon’s budget to keep growing in the long run at 1 percent a year after inflation, plus the costs of the war. It has averaged an inflation-adjusted growth rate of 7 percent a year over the last decade (nearly 12 percent a year without adjusting for inflation), including the costs of the wars. So far, Mr. Obama has asked Congress for an increase in total spending next year of 2.2 percent, to $708 billion — 6.1 percent higher than the peak under the Bush administration.

Mr. Gates is arguing that if the Pentagon budget is allowed to keep growing by 1 percent a year, he can find 2 percent or 3 percent in savings in the department’s bureaucracy to reinvest in the military — and that will be sufficient to meet national security needs. In one of the paradoxes of Washington budget battles, Mr. Gates, even as he tries to forestall deeper cuts, is trying to kill weapons programs he says the military does not need over the objections of members of Congress who want to protect jobs.

more

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/us/10gates.html?_r=1& ...


So now a one percent growth after inflation is 'BIG CUTS'