The Defense Drumbeat Blog

Dec 11 2012

McKeon: National security and economy affected by more military cuts

The Foreign Policy Initiative, writers from the Washington Examiner and New York Post weigh in.

Chairman McKeon on Bloomberg TV
Appearing on Bloomberg TV 's "Street Smart," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon discussed how further defense cuts, in addition to the $487 billion already made, would not only affect our national security, but also have a negative impact on our economy. 

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FPI Analysis: Don’t Throw National Defense Off Fiscal Cliff

“...further cuts to Pentagon spending risks imperiling national security.” …

“Second, the Pentagon’s leaders have repeatedly warned that President Obama’s defense budget for FY 2013—which cuts $487 billion from core annual spending over 10 years—is the absolute floor for funding the military’s current strategy to defend the United States.”  …

“Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, defense spending has been repeatedly cut in recent years.” …

“Domestic spending—not national defense spending—has been and continues to be the primary driver of total federal spending, and therefore the primary driver of America’s federal debt.” … 

Hugh Hewitt: Rescuing Defense from the fiscal hostage crisis
Washington Examiner

“…I interviewed Tom Donnelly, Mackenzie Eaglen, and Gary Schmitt of the American Enterprise Institute and Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations -- all experts on the Pentagon and the impacts of the cuts should they fall….  All of those voices and there are many more, are unanimous in urging that the mindless cutting at the Pentagon be stopped. The president pledged that it would not occur during the campaign. So why are our troops and the equipment on which they depend and the comfort and safety of their families part of the hostage negotiations over tax rates, spending cuts and entitlement reform?” 

Arthur Herman: Gutting US defense - The other fiscal-cliff fallout
The New York Post

“If our Pentagon ends up going over the fiscal cliff, it will set off the most decisive shift in the balance of world power since the fall of the Berlin Wall.” …

“We end up with armed forces less willing and able to project power or put their remaining assets at risk—and an America with a smaller strategic footprint than at any time since the end of the Vietnam War. By the way, the cuts have grim implications for the US economy, too. A study by George Mason’s Stephen Fuller puts the impact at a loss of nearly 1 million defense-related jobs — many of them union jobs — and an $86.5 billion drop in national GDP.” …

“In short, defense cuts are going to further weaken an already feeble economy — even as friends and foes alike start the countdown on the decline of American power around the world.”