DEFENDING DEFENSE – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  We mentioned in our first post the importance of looking carefully at any debt agreement to see what it does to national defense.  Frankly, I'm worried.  So are a group of Republican members of Congress, who are now stepping forward to speak directly to the American people about the importance of maintaining our defenses in an increasingly dangerous world.  From the Weekly Standard: 

House Republicans held a press conference in the Capitol Saturday to denounce what they called dangerous cuts to defense spending in Senator Harry Reid's debt limit bill. Buck McKeon (R, Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, warned that Reid's bill would cut defense by more than $400 billion beyond Boehner's plan over 10 years. "If Senator Reid's plan passes--if we stand idly by while this administration spends down its domestic spending spree with the blood and sweat of our troops--our military will break," McKeon said. "The Army and Marines are stretched dangerously thin, separated from their families, and using hardware that has been chewed up by a decade of fighting.

Rep. Randy Forbes (R, Va.) said that Reid's bill would result in a dangerous reduction in both hardware and military personnel. "If we look at the Marine Corps they've said specifically they cannot meet the needs of the combatant commanders now," Forbes said. "If they have to make these cuts it'll have to come out of personnel, and they'll have to reduce their force structure, and they'll have to have a new strategy for how they defend the United States of America."

The most powerful rebuke of Reid's plan came from Lt. Colonel Allen West (R, Fla.). The Tea Partier and Iraq war veteran said he's not opposed to all defense cuts and even chastised the president for wasting tax dollars on Libya. But he called the Reid bill's cuts "incredible" and "unconscionable."

COMMENT:  One of the great myths is that we spend too much on defense.  We don't.  True, there are probably wasteful programs in the Pentagon, and they should be vigorously pursued.  But our overall defense budget really doesn't even cover some important needs.  We are not replacing ships fast enough.  We are certainly not replacing old warplanes fast enough.  If we cut personnel, we lose the expertise built up over years, and at great cost. 

We had four defense drawdowns in the 20th century, and lived to regret each one of them.  Young Americans paid a terrible price for unpreparedness, or shortages in equipment.

Hostile nations watch our defense spending carefully.  We know the Soviet Union watched President Reagan's defense buildup, and were clearly chastised by it.  The Soviets knew they couldn't keep up.

National defense is life insurance.  Properly managed, it is always worth it.  As President Kennedy once said, when the chief executive calls the Pentagon, someone always answers.

July 31, 2011