Panetta: Defense budget cuts will damage economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is laying out a grim list of spending cuts the Pentagon will have to make in the coming weeks that he says will seriously damage the country's economy and degrade the military's ability to respond to a crisis.
He is slamming members of Congress as irresponsible and willing to push the country off a fiscal cliff to damage their opposing political parties.
He says if Congress doesn't pass a budget the Pentagon must absorb $46 billion in spending reductions in this fiscal year and will face a $35 billion shortfall in operating expenses.
The military services are warning of widespread civilian furloughs, layoffs and hiring freezes. The Navy says it will cease deployments to South America and the Caribbean and limit those to Europe.
He is slamming members of Congress as irresponsible and willing to push the country off a fiscal cliff to damage their opposing political parties.
He says if Congress doesn't pass a budget the Pentagon must absorb $46 billion in spending reductions in this fiscal year and will face a $35 billion shortfall in operating expenses.
The military services are warning of widespread civilian furloughs, layoffs and hiring freezes. The Navy says it will cease deployments to South America and the Caribbean and limit those to Europe.
Navy says it will cease deployments to South America and the Caribbean and limit those to Europe.
is that all, why not remove troops from Cyprian areas or better yet the entire middle east?
Having spent 26 years in the US Army, including six in the funny five sided building, I can state that the DOD could take a 30-40% reduction without in any way effecting military preparedness or capabilities. Fully 30% of the federal budget is spent on "cost overruns" (higher in the DOD). IF private contractors were held accountable for their bids and contracts, the entire deficit discussion would be over.
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Of course, we know how conservatives feel about private companies being held to a real standard . . . .
 @ShallowEnder meh, why do they need a 10 million dollar toilet? There is something else...the 100 year spaceship program..a program never spoken about..It is real and it is in conjunction with NASA and DARPA...Google 100YSS
Cut the budget 10% across the board.
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According to the CBO we will be spending 53% of the budget on entitlements in the near future. With interest on the debt and the military there will not be any money for anything else.
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The military will just have to do with less money.
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Finances are now driving the bus.