The Stars and Stripes reports this morning that the arrival of the 2010 defense budget has triggered a battle that the Obama Administration may not have anticipated;<\/p>\n
Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb expressed deep concerns about reductions in Navy shipbuilding. Another group of senators lead by Alaska Democrat Mark Begich sent a letter criticizing proposed cuts in missile defense.<\/p>\n
House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McHugh of New York called the budget cuts too drastic for a nation still fighting overseas. Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma called it a plan to “disarm America,” adding “never before has a president so ravaged the military at a time of war.”<\/p>\n
Even supportive lawmakers, who praised Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the White House for making tough fiscal decisions to rein in military spending, emphasized that now they\u2019ll be the ones to determine which programs actually need to be funded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yeah, seein’s how the world has become more dangerous in the last few months and Obama has decided we’re going to kiss everyone’s ass instead of kicking them in the ass, the least he could do is make sure we can still kick their ass four years from now. Think we’ll get help from Republicans in the Senate? I wouldn’t count on it;<\/p>\n
Gates and President Barack Obama may have an unlikely ally in their effort to convince Congress to uphold the cuts: Sen. John McCain.<\/p>\n
The unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate, still the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Monday\u2019s budget plan “a major step in the right direction” and said he strongly supports the decision to restructure the way major defense programs are handled.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yeah, we’ll cut future weapons system development and cut personnel costs in defense while adding billions to the coffers of ACORN with the money we save on essential defensive measures and that’s a step in the right direction? Thanks, McCain – keep that in mind when you wonder why you got beat in 2000 and 2008.<\/p>\n
Added:<\/strong> Great opinion piece at Wall Street Journal<\/a> on the subject.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"