Liberals see Opportunities for big cuts in Defense

I bet they do.  And I'm with Mr. McGrath here, when he says:

Their collective desires to denude DoD of nearly $1 trillion spring not from a sense of what is best for the national defense of the US strategically, but primarily from the standpoint of how to find money within the existing discretionary budget to keep from making real choices on entitlements.

Here's the thing - a lot of the waste in the DoD stems from how money gets allocated in the first place.  If I want more money for my budget next year, I have to prove that I need it by spending ALL of my money this year, and then demanding more.

It's a flawed system from the get go.  If I actually cut back, trim my budget, and save the government money, then that's money that I WILL NOT GET NEXT YEAR no matter how much I need it.  No matter if my mission has gone from 30 events to 50 events.  "Well Dave, why do you need that much money?  You didn't spend what you had last year!"

And I don't know where all the money is going.  Most if it is likely going to personnel costs, and we're losing spots at an alarming rate.  The Army is doing everything it can to clamp down on money being spent for people, and it's already hit my office.  Out of a six man team, we lost two folks that we had on orders thanks to a change in rules.  So we're down a third, but our optempo hasn't slowed down one bit.

Yes, there are things that can be cut in the military.  Yes, we could save money by changing our practices.  But our practices are created by Congress, and I haven't seen any indication that things are going to change.

By the way - should the military get cut, I want to see commiserate cuts throughout the government.  There's more than enough fat, fraud and waste to go around, let's start cutting THAT!

And this is why

I still practice land navigation with a map and a compass. GPS System set to fail.

Huh. It's almost like when you reduce the military's budget (since the Air Force is in charge of the GPS systems) during a time of war, forcing them to cut back on where they spend money, you'll have to face the consequences someday!

Hmmmmmmmmm.....

On the other hand, maybe when the Left-voting idiots can't use their OnStar or Garmin, they'll actually wake the fuck up. Maybe.

Military Budget submitted by Gates

I have found all the coverage of this to be almost identical. So, here are the hi-lights of his proposal:

1. halting production of the F-22 fighter jet

2*. scrapping a new helicopter for the president as he outlined deep cuts to many of the military's biggest weapons programs.

3. Spending on tanks, fighter planes, ships, missiles and other weapons accounted for about a third of all defense spending last year. But Gates noted more money will be needed in areas such as personnel as the Army and Marines expand the size of their forces. [...]

4. A new communications satellite would be scrapped

5. the program for a new Air Force transport plane would be ended.

6. The Army's $160 billion Future Combat Systems modernization program would lose its armored vehicles.

7. Plans to build a shield to defend against missile attacks by rogue states would also be scaled back.

8. speeding up production of the F-35 fighter jet, which could end up costing $1 trillion to manufacture and maintain 2,443 planes.

9. The military would buy more speedy ships that can operate close in to land.

10. more money would be spent outfitting special forces troops that can hunt down insurgents.

2*. President Obama will continue flying in a stripped-down Marine One helicopter that matches the tough economic times, because Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended that the controversial $13 billion program to develop a supped-up helicopter be canceled -- at least for now. Termination of the new Marine One program, whose costs escalated from an initially estimated $6.5 billion to $13 billion.Technology in the new helicopter geared toward keeping the president secure and allowing him to perform his duties uninterrupted while in the air contributed to the cost of the helicopter, which also was to include a small, functional kitchen and a bathroom.