Defense Cuts, Again

The Lowell Sun and The Boston Globe have had stories on a report by the Defense Business Board, urging the incoming Administration to consider the fact that the Defense Budget is "unsustainable." The upshot is a recommendation that some of the weapons systems currently being acquired should be cut or cut back.

This was reported by Brian Bender in The Boston Globe (Monday) and Matt Murphy in The Lowell Sun (Tuesday). Both writers are to be commended for including their EMails.

Surprisingly, The Washington Post has nothing on the Defense Business Bureau and its recent report.

There was nothing about the report on the DBB web site this evening, so it looks like the report was purloined or leaked.

I wonder, though, if this is a leak and being done to pave the way for deep defense cuts by the incoming Administration. Were the comments by Congressman Barney Frank just the first of a long information operation between now and late January? At the link provided is a breakdown of the 2008 Defense Budget by percentage. The Procurement Package does not take up a dominant portion of the overall defense budget, especially when some "off budget" "Global War on Terrorism" items are included. There will have to be a lot of programs cut to get close to Congressman Frank's recommended 25%. But, perhaps the real (secret) number is only 12.5%.

As Reporter Matt Murphy points out, $9.2 billion of those dollars come to the Commonwealth (and then in turn generate more jobs as defense workers spend that money).

I am not advocating defense spending as a form of make-work. That is not a good use of the taxpayer's money. I am thinking, though, that we are going to see changes in the Department of Defense with the new Administration. And, a sign that it will include major changes in spending priorities could be if we are seeing more of this kind of item in the MSM.

Regards -- Cliff