Rep. DesJarlais needs to get some perspective. If the automatics cut go into effect the Pentagon will still have $469 billion dollars in its budget. It will still be more than the Pentagon Budget had in 2006 when we had two full scale wars going on. It will be more than we spent at the height of the Reagan buildup against the Soviets. And we will still be paying more in defense than all the other countries combined.
I recently read that the proposed budget cuts for NASA's future mission to Mars would only fund our war effort in Afghanistan & Iraq for 16 hours! While defense of our country is important, our current defense spending focused on foreign adventurism and private military outfits like Blackwater is truly astronomical. FY2012 spending in Afghanastan could fund the following:
$14.6 million Head Start slots for children for one year or
$1.6 million elementary school teachers for one year or
$1.6 million police or sheriff's patrol officers for one year or
$14.1 million scholarships for university students for one year or
$20.0 million students receiving Pell Grants of $5550
Again take the military spending of all the countries you think pose a threat to us and total them.
Then compare that to what we spend on defense. I think you'd be surprised on much we dwarf the the rest of the world in Military spending.
R. W. Young
Chattanooga
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Excuse me, but didn't the 4th District congressman vote for the deficit reduction plan last year, including military cuts?
What a hypocrite!
Mark Rudisill
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More like "Defense Cuts Place Campaign Contributions At Risk." The United States spends roughly 700 Billion per year on defense. The next nine countries in line spend 200 Billion less combined.
We need cuts across the board. Raise taxes a bit, give a fair cut to everyone's favorite program to get the deficit back under control and then go from there.
It's amazing to me that some scream for cutting entitlement programs but don't want to touch defense.
Biff Loman
Chattanooga