Panetta jumps on the budget-cutting sword
Leon Panetta, the Defense Secretary who was assigned to the post to slash the living shit out of the Defense Department, appeared in front Congress today to justify the fact that he intends to leave us defenseless (Stars & Stripes link);
“Respectfully, this doesn’t add up,” McCain said. “Unfortunately, this defense budget continues the administration’s habit of putting short-term political considerations over our long-term national security interests.”
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said that while Panetta was only carrying out his duties under the law in cutting the defense budget, the DOD is bearing the brunt of years of financial irresponsibility throughout the government.
“As I look at what you’ve had to do to meet the bottom line requirements of the Budget Control Act, it represents, in my opinion, unacceptable risk to our national security,” he said.
Panetta said DOD has a part to play in budget cutting, and Congress needs to take seriously the threat of uncontrolled spending.
“We have tried to step up to the plate and do our duty here,” he said. “In weighing how you address this issue, you’ve also got to take into consideration the national security threat that comes from the huge deficits and the huge debt that we’re running.”
“Step up and do our duty” must mean that the DoD has to shoulder the burden of the entire budget-cutting process for the entire Executive Branch. Panetta said earlier today that this is the Senate’s opportunity to prove that they’re serious about cutting spending. Well, “provide for the common defense” is right there in the Preamble of the Constitution, but all of that other bullshit about healthcare, government-funded abortions and the all of the stuff that makes the Left feel good about themselves isn’t even mentioned.
Like someone said in the comments in the previous post on the subject, how many lives will the next war cost us while we get ourselves back up to par? Who wants to be the first to die for this lie? I’m not saying that there isn’t waste to be cut out of the Defense budget, but when you talk about slashing manpower by entire maneuver elements, that’s not cutting waste – it’s cutting our means of defense.
Category: Military issues
Yep! All the so-called “budget cutting” is in one place- the DOD. A deep V, not a horizontal slash throughout the FedGov. How about the Dept of Education? And HUD? Those two don’t even affect entitlements (SocSec, Medicare, Medicaid), yet they’re considered sacred cows, off the table.
No wonder we’re going downhill off the cliff so fast.
Part and parcel as to why I spiked my kid’s effort to join the Marines.
I want him to serve. But I will not allow him to become lube in Barry’s Meat Grinder.
Speculation with a touch of paranoia thrown in: All this will become moot.
Israel/Iran will decide.
Mind you this particular crisis could just be another chest thumping event that goes nowhere, I.E. Cuban missile crisis, but I ain’t so sure?
Iran sure appears earnest to me.
DoD is the only thing available that the Administration can cut and not betray their campaign promises to their supporters. If they attempt, even partially, to cut what B Woodman calls the “sacred cows,” the s*** will most definitely hit the political fan.
They don’t believe the threats against the country will materialize until it’s too late to make them responsible for it, and that’s all that counts.
I guess Obama forgot to read Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution as well.
Then again, he was only there for 143 days before he started running for Pres__ent. Hardly enough time to, you know, know what the fuck you’re talking about.
This will never be an issue because the media doesn’t do their friggen jobs. They’ll tie all the VA/PTSD issues to Bush and the wars…and never even look at how Bush fought the war in Afghanistan as opposed to ol Barry. Or how we seem to be getting involved in Syria and Iran. I’m still not sure what the hell Libya was all about, not to mention Egypt and the goat screw thats coming there.
Come on Sparky; he was a Constitutional lecturer in a Chicago college and, according to his dogwashers, an “expert” on the Constitution.
This has NOTHING to do with the deficit, or cutting spending, according to Carl Levin, DumbAss-Michigan, this is about taxes and only taxes. “the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee says those cuts must stand unless and until Republicans relent on their anti-tax absolutism, and agree on a balanced deficit reduction package that includes higher revenue”. So, IOW, it’d be a shame if anything happened to your country over this, just go along and no one gets hurt. http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/budget-approriations/206773-sen-levin-sequestration-will-make-gop-flinch-on-revenues
And, “balanced deficit reduction” means we keep feeding the food stamp mob, paying for their “free” cell phones, which happen to about $1.6 billion short this year, forcing banks to now refinance home loans for those who don’t pay, and giving out more, by one half, to HHS than we spend on defense.
So back to the days of cannibalizing two aircraft to keep a third in the air? Of soldiers buying supplies because S-4 has no money? Of low morale and enlisted on food stamps?
So here we go again! Cut the military to the bone now, then spend bazillions (that we won’t have), to rebuild when we’re needed again. Hopefully I’ll be dead by then cuz I sure as hell won’t want to see it.
They must have gotten really serious about this stuff. I heard the zoomies are going to lose aircraft and personnel. They never get cut for nothing. And given that Nobama loves them, it shows how serious he is in disarming us so his arab brethren can attack us and take us over (or any other third world shithole with a few T-34’s and some spears or some such shit).