Sec. of Defense Gates is still on the road, warning those who will listen of the impending budget crunch for defense. His words are even now being analyzed by D.C think tanks:
From this morning’s Washington Post:
"We will not be able to 'do everything, buy everything,'" Gates said in testimony prepared for the Senate Armed Services Committee. "One thing we have known for many months is the spigot of defense funding opened by 9/11 is closing."
"Gates understands that we can't maintain the current level of spending in Iraq, if we are also going to increase the effort in Afghanistan. There simply isn't enough money," said Loren Thompson, a defense consultant with the Lexington Institute in Virginia.
Funding for troops and weapon systems in Afghanistan will mean buying fewer ships or planes, and much less spending in Iraq, Thompson said. "It may take some time before the administration begins cutting weapons programs, but the cuts are coming because the government is out of the money," he said.
But Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the committee, noted the Obama administration's amended budget request expected to be released in April would more closely reflect the new president's defense priorities
From today's Reuters:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates vowed to reform the way the Pentagon buys weapons and said budget pressures resulting from two wars and the economic crisis would force tough choices in coming years.
"We will not be able to 'do everything, buy everything' ... I believe now is the time to take action," Gates said in testimony Tuesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee, where members welcomed his attention to the acquisition issue.
If you think the $1 trillion stimulus package might be used to shore up defense programs, don't hold your breath. The D.C. think tanks are already urging Pres. Obama to not allow those dollars to go to DoD.
...military spending is supposed to serve one central purpose: advancing U.S. security. The defense budget is not a jobs program, nor should it be. When military procurement becomes nothing more than a series of thinly veiled pork-barrel projects, it risks exposing our troops to unnecessary risks, and ultimately undermines our security.
This is not the first time that defense spending has been endorsed as a way to jump-start the economy. Plans to add tens of thousands of personnel to our armed forces will have a similar distorting effect. The resulting payroll increases will come at a high price to taxpayers and to our long-term security...Using the Pentagon budget as a source of economic stimulus is a bad bargain.
I have never heard such a intellectually dishonest opinion piece in my life, the Pentagon is the biggest pork barrel and federal jobs program in the entire federal budget. This is the left's attempt to wall DoD off from future funding streams.