Americans to Obama: Don’t Cut Defense
Kim Holmes /
Following billion dollar bailouts and stimulus packages, the Administration is hoping to find “savings” elsewhere in the federal budget. One of its targets is defense. According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the “gusher” of defense spending “has been turned off, and will stay off for a good period of time.”
His effort is misguided. It’s a political decision divorced from the reality of the threats we face. And it’s not a move Americans support. According to a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll, cutting defense is as unpopular as raising payroll taxes to fund Medicare. A solid 57 percent of adults say it would be “unacceptable” to reduce spending on national security and defense weapons systems. (more…)