Few in Washington stand up and say, “Congress, we have enough money. Please cut our budget!” So it deserves particular applause when a leader has the courage to identify waste and ask for reductions.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently did just that when he called on Congress to cut as much as $15 billion from the Pentagon’s budget and eliminate several weapons programs that he thought were no longer optimal. Gates recognizes that resources may need to shift to other areas—for weapons modernization programs and the general military capacity in our war theaters, Afghanistan and Iraq. Priorities need to be set so that money is available for what’s really needed in the future.
Yet it’s hardly a surprise that instead of receiving well-deserved applause from all those self-proclaimed deficit hawks in Congress, Sec. Gates has instead faced resistance. Congress is insisting on funding weapons programs and providing raises that the Defense Secretary believes aren’t necessary. Gates directly confronted the illogic approach Members of Congress are using to justify overspending.
As the Washington Post reported:
“One of the members of Congress, I’m told, said, ‘Well, why is $3 billion for the alternative engine such a big deal when we’ve got a trillion-dollar deficit?’ I would submit that’s one of the reasons we have a trillion-dollar deficit, is that kind of thinking,” Gates told reporters this month. “And so we’re not just going to roll over to preserve programs that we think we don’t need, regardless of where the pressure is coming from.”
In spite of the Secretary’s laudable stance, The House Armed Services Committee passed their defense-spending bill on Wednesday anyway, in a bipartisan manner voting 59-0, defying the Obama Administration’s requests. The spending measure, which carries an overall price tag of $760 billion, includes spending for the controversial alternative engine for the F-35 strike fighter – an engine Sec. Gates has clearly stated the military does not need.
The spending measure also increases military pay by 1.9%, a full half percentage point more than the Obama Administration and Defense Department had requested. According to Congressional Quarterly, “If the raise is enacted, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of that increase at $2.39 billion more than planned over the next five years.”
Sec. Gates, who has served under both a Republican and Democrat Presidents, seems better positioned to know what planes and weapon systems make the most sense for the military. Congress should respect his request and cut this wasteful spending. It is far better to preserve resources now so that our military has them when it really needs them.
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