Lawrence Korb provides the kind of constructive criticism of the “spending freeze” that I would like to see a lot more of from progressives. Military spending is an issue that progressives need to get on the table, not only with regard to the discretionary budget but also when it comes time for a commission to make recommendations on how to fix the long-term budget deficit. If the discussion involves only tax hikes vs. entitlements cuts, we’re all going to get screwed. We had a commission in the early 1990’s to help Congress manage a major round of military base closures. We can’t let a new commission tackle the deficit without using its independence to force politically difficult cuts in military investments.
It’s good to see qualified people making informed recommendations to do just that.
How about commissioning the military to come up with areas that they think spending could be cut? If they conclude that some things can be cut, then cut them. But their more likely conclusion, that no cuts are possible, needs to be up front and ridiculed on the face of it, even before any commission’s report.
Mantra:
There is no institution of that scale that can’t trim the fat somewhere.
There is no institution of that scale that can’t trim the fat somewhere.
There is no institution of that scale that can’t trim the fat somewhere.
There is no institution of that scale that can’t trim the fat somewhere.
There is no institution of that scale that can’t trim the fat somewhere.
There is no institution of that scale that can’t trim the fat somewhere.
We need a rethinking of the 63-year-old structure of the US national security institutions. The Cold War has been over for 20 years. Having such bloated institutions invites searches for opportunities to use them. The Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the necessity for a military industrial complex, the taking of Congress out of declaring war, the absence of declarations of war themselves. All of those aspects of national security should be reviewed.
The results on reducing the deficit (and debt) could be huge.
Spencer Ackerman just had some posts on this subject.
The comments in this one are good, too:
http://attackerman.firedoglake.com/2010/01/26/your-insane-defense-budget-presented-in-a-single-chart
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Jeez, I dunno about this, it’s not like the Pentagon is doing anything stupid.
And this just in — the US has declined a North Korean offer to end the Korean War, saying it would be a thankless gift to the North Koreans.
Link?
The story was covered by the Australian and Canadian press.
North Korea proposed Monday signing a peace treaty this year to formally end the Korean War, a suggestion Washington quickly dismissed.–January 11, 2010
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/01/11/north-korea.html
from the State website:
Q: North Korea demands peace treaty with the United States before the Six-Party Talks begin. What is the U.S. position?
State: We’ve made clear, going back several months, we’re not going to pay North Korea for coming back to the Six-Party process.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2010/01/135059.htm#korea