Obama's Defense Cuts Or "Watch Republican Members of Congress Embrace Keynes" - We Are All Keynesian

[Median Democrat]

This will be an interesting and ironic fight. Republicans, whose chairman claimed that government spending never created a single job, will probably start complaining about potential job losses due to the proposed defense cuts in exotic programs that are never delivered and never meet their proposed budget. Rememer the MX-Missle that was touted by Ronald Reagan? Well, that system was developed, built then moth-balled at the costs of billions of tax payer dollars.

My question is why spend so much on such exotic weapons, but ignore plain vanilla costs like body armor and spending on military salaries and benefits? I have a couple of family members in the military, and I do think it is shameful that they directly sacrificed while the Bush administration was handing out tax cuts like candy in the middle of a war.

It will be interesting to see how successful Obama is or whether opposition to military cuts ends up being bi-partisan, as members of Congress look to protect the industrial military complex, and wasted money on exotic, ineffective military hardware while ignoring stuff that actually saves lives like body armor.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040304080.html

/snip

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to announce on Monday the restructuring of several dozen major defense programs as part of the Obama administration's bid to shift military spending from preparations for large-scale war against traditional rivals to the counterinsurgency programs that Gates and others consider likely to dominate U.S. conflicts in coming decades.

Gates's aides say his plan would boost spending for some programs and take large whacks at others, including some with powerful constituencies on Capitol Hill and among influential contractors, making his announcement more of an opening bid than a decisive end to weeks of sometimes acrimonious internal Pentagon debate.

Among the programs expected to be heavily cut is the Army's Future Combat Systems, a network of vehicles linked by high-tech communications that has been plagued by technical troubles and delays; with a price tag exceeding $150 billion, it is now one of the most costly military efforts.

Gates also is considering cutting a new $20 billion communications satellite program and reducing the number of aircraft carriers from 11 to 10, and he plans to eliminate elements of the decades-old missile defense effort that are over budget or considered ineffective, according to industry and administration sources.

/snip

[Political Heretic]

1. This will be extremely interesting to watch and I fully support this move!

I imagine the administration will run into huge opposition, but I give huge kudos to the President for being gutsy enough to take this on. I actually thought we would just be stuck with an huge, bloated defense budget because no one would have the courage to take on such a sacred cow.

This is exciting, and I look forward to seeing how it unfolds!

[Elwood P Dowd]

2. Keynsian for the rich.

Eat cake for everyone else.

[Metta]

3. Programs that don't work against enemies that don't exist.

A Joseph Stiglitz quote, I think. Damnable that our well being as a nation is squandered for the well being of weapons manufacturers, dealers and politicians who gain from them. Happy karma to them.

[Thrill]

4. Keep an eye out for the Senators getting the donations from these contractors

And watch how they react tomorrow. Follow the money.

[spag68]

5. Government spending

It's not just defense. Out here on Long Island they built,started up a nuke, then immediately shut it down before sending out a single watt. Shoreham, at approximately8.5 billion, still sits out there, useless.

[vixengrl]

6. We're all Keynesians, indeed--

some more than others.

The issue of course is one of commitment--if the Republicans acknowledge that the government is a source of revenue--will they also allow that the government should also be a regulator, being also a customer? At what level of control (as financial share or as customer) do the American people get a say in how they do business? Especially since defense operations often = war-like stuff done in our name.