Panetta warns Congress of impact of DoD cuts
Several of you have sent me links to Leon Panetta’s warnings to Congress about looming Defense spending cuts.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Congress on Monday that deeper defense cuts would leave the military with the smallest ground force since 1940, lead to possible months-long furloughs of civilian employees and force the Pentagon to recalibrate its national security strategy to accept “substantial risk.”
Panetta needs to warn them that their political careers are at stake instead, because obviously, they don’t care about the national security implications of their ill-considered actions. Defense cuts are Congress’ way to vote “present” on budget cutting. There’s no political repercussions to cutting Defense because there’s no real constituency. It’s gutless and cowardly to not make cuts where cuts are truly needed.
Of course, there will be thousands of American deaths before Congress pays a political price for their cowardice.
Category: Congress sucks
Yeah, screw the vets, but by God you better not touch the DoD civilian workforce.
Asshats.
Who flies AF One and Marine One? Bureaucrats from the Department of Education? Who scrambled on 9/11 and guarded the skies over Washington? Pencil pushers from the Energy Department? How many of the DOJ lawyers and staff were deployed to Iraq? How many of tyhem came home in a flag-drapped box? How many IRS employees are in military hospitals as a result of their sacrifices? How many? Answer me that, damn it. How many?
Oh come on, guys. What are the odds that something bad will happen and your very small force will be suddenly tossed into combat with obsolete equipment, few tanks, not a lot of ships, ancient planes, and obsolete firearms against a superior force?
That’s only happened, like, once.
In the early 1940’s.
Oh, wait. Well, it wouldn’t be too bad. After all, we’ve got this huge manufacturing base that can easily be retooled to create weapons of war.
Right?
Actually, it happened in 1917, 1950, 1861…(sans tanks and planes in 1861, of course)
Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it. We could probably cut a bunch of ships too, since we’ve got all these high quality shipyards that fortunately weren’t closed due to government interference that would’ve killed American shipbuilding. I bet they can crank out a carrier in a few months just like the old days.
NH,
The nice thing about the 1950 is that we still had WW2 stuff laying around that could be easily brought back and the manufacturing base to do it.
No, their political careers will be made by deep cuts:
For Progressives, deep cuts to our defense are THE penultimate demonstration of loyalty to the Revolution.
For Republicans, deep cuts to defense ensures invitations to the Thanksgiving-Holidays-New Year’s fetes again this year. Republicans are only Diet Progressives.
For TEA Partiers, it’s a Dave Ramsey thing: to preserve, you have to cut, take the pain before one reinstate what is good.
As for Panetta, he’s lying:
1. Every civilian furloughed means that civilian comes back as a higher paid contractor. Once a bureau creates its empire, the empire is never lessened, only absorbed into larger empires. There is a justification (however flimsy) that created the GS position, therefore the work must be done.
Result: even more money put toward the civilian workforce, or: cut Uniformed authorizations while cutting unfilled/unfillable (e.g. deployable) GS positions, and normal attrition.
Congress doesn’t pay political prices. As the current Dreihaus lawsuit in Ohio attests: once elected, Congresscritters are OWED their membership, money, and bennies.
Spade #3, Let’s not forget Task Force Smith in Korea,Desert One and the Marine Barracks in Beirut, all which can be attributed to the Democrats response to standing levels of manning. Along with the cuts in DOD spending,the cuts in training dollars and maintenance of vehicles and equipment, no ammunition etc etc.
NHSparky, keep in mind that a substantial portion of DoD civilians ARE vets…
Spade–one of the biggest issues early on in Korea was air superiority. We were still flying P-51’s and outmatched F-80’s and F-84’s against the Soviet Mig-15’s. The F-86 didn’t arrive in Korea until December 1950, and even then, there were serious issues against the Mig before the F-86F was introduced in 1953.
And even so, the training to bring the pilots up to speed on the F-86 had such an incredible casualty rate at Nellis the trainee pilots were told, “If you see the flag at full staff, take a picture.”
Task Force Smith is all I have to say about Korea.
Oh, so now Panetta’s a nice guy? More typical facist blather – anyone who doesn’t agree with you is a coward and a traitor. You wonder how the rest of the world survives without spending a trillion dollars a year…….
Who left the barn door open and let Joe in?
I think the fact that defense is the ONLY thing that they are cutting has even got Panetta scared. All and all Panetta doesn’t seem like a bad guy. Of course most Sec Defs would be a step up from rollover Gates.
Joe: How’s the lighting in Fat Bastard’s bowels? Care to point out the line that propmpted your comment regarding regard for Panetta Here? Knucklehead.
Apparently, the GOP now seeks to back out of not increasing taxes. They have not learned and don’t seem to be able to do the tough things and are nothing more than RINO freaks. Where are the real leaders? Because the dems have shown themselves over and over…
It reminds me of a Vietnam Era song…Where have all the leaders gone, Long time passing…gone to unions everyone, oh when will they ever learn…oh when will they ever learn?
Cutting defense is a bad move. Period.
@12: Joe, the reason the rest of the world doesn’t spend $700 billion (not a trillion, but nice try, because out of the 3.7 trillion dollar budget, there was 700 billion allocated to the DoD, which is approx. 17%, which means that 83% went elsewhere. Care to tell us where that went?) a year on military is because they have us doing it for them. If you would care to show me how the percentage of the federal budget, plus percentage of GDP is broken down per country, then you might have a rational discussion with us, but until then, you are just blathering the leftist/communist talking points, which can be shot down quickly and efficiently leaving you to get all emotional.
Joe–despite all that Panetta did as a member of Congress and the Clinton administration, even HE realizes there’s a line you simply don’t cross when it comes to military readiness.
I still think he’s a douche, but blind squirrel, nut, etc.
Now hold still while I shove your nose into your little pile on the carpet yet again.
Country Singer:
Only DoD, VA and Homeland Security have a meaningful vet representation. Of the more than 2.9 Million member federal civilan workforce, about 450,000 are former military. That’s about 15%.
I’m active duty at Echelon II-level HQ. About 80% of our contractors are former military. They make way more than twice what their GS counterparts make.
Joe hasn’t gotten the concept of disliking someone but agreeing with them on occasion. For instance if Princess Pelosi told me the sun was going to rise in the east, granted I would have to check to make sure, but ultimately I would agree with her.
Joe: most of us have “ridden the tiger” or trained to do so. Combat I mean. Hell some of us thought about nothing but for years. With Iran acting the fool, you KNOW, democrat or Republican, the demand will be there. The Military will never say “No” can’t in fact. If the Navy is reduced to two higgans boats and the air force to a Cessna 172 they’ll still go out.
you have to ask yourself this very important question though, why is it that we NEED these drastic measures? is it because in three years one President raised more debt than all previous presidents COMBINED?
#JPJ: you are too kind. I’d ask how she’s profiting from the information on sunrise and sunset.
Open Channel D, I am aware of how it works, being a contractor in TRADOC. That’s why I was specifically addressing DoD civilians. Incidentally, I’m paid quite a bit less than my GS counterparts doing the same job.
“If the Navy is reduced to two higgans boats and the air force to a Cessna 172 they’ll still go out”. Very true, Doc. but Joey boy is like the lefties in between WWII and the Korean “Conflict”, or the asshats who gave us Carter I, cut to the bone, then cut into the bone. Because we have to fund the give-aways and entitlements. Who cares how many Americans come home in flag-draped coffins, doesn’t affect them, they could give a shit less, as long as they get their monthly welfare check and food stamps.