No To Further Cuts In The Defense Budget
Matthew Foulger /
The U.S. defense budget is currently inadequate to meet the nation’s security needs. Yet, a panel led by retired U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, the former Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Alice Rivlin, budget director under President Clinton, has proposed to reduce the federal debt by making drastic cuts to the Pentagon’s budget. Defense spending, however, is not the cause of America’s fiscal woes. Rather, mandatory spending on entitlements and interest on our debt currently accounts for over 50 percent of the federal budget, while defense spending accounts for less than one-fifth.
Noting that the defense budget has been growing since 9/11, some observers argue that there should be no problem with reducing defense. However, despite the post-9/11 budget increases, defense spending is still tight and core defense capabilities are being shortchanged. (more…)