RRC Archives

Gates: Pentagon must cut overhead, restrain spending

The Pentagon must hold down its spending and make choices that will anger "powerful people" in an era of economic strain, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a weekend speech in Kansas.

Increasing health care costs, a top-heavy uniformed and civilian management force, and big-ticket weapons systems are swelling the military's budget at an "unsustainable" rate, Gates said. In response, Gates said, he has ordered the Defense Department's military and civilian leaders to find savings of 2 to 3 percent -- more than $10 billion of the Pentagon's roughly $550 billion base budget -- and shift spending toward war-fighting costs.

"These savings must stem from root-and-branch changes that can be sustained and added to over time," he told an audience Saturday at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene. "Simply taking a few percent off the top of everything on a onetime basis will not do."

On his way out of office in 1961, President Eisenhower -- the former general who led allied forces in Europe during World War II -- warned of the expanding influence of what he called the "military-industrial complex." Nearly 50 years later, Gates invoked that history to warn that the cuts on the way "will displease powerful people, both inside the Pentagon and out."

The U.S. defense budget has more than doubled since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Since taking office in 2006, Gates has managed to cut some of the Pentagon's major weapons systems, but efforts to kill other programs have been defeated under heavy pressure from military contractors and members of Congress.

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http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/09/ ... index.html

So I say cut all goverment spending in half. Get the goverment out of peoples pockets and do a serious restructuring of the D.O.D. We are so tech advanced that we have no real peers. Drop all those spaceage expensive programs. I say dump shitloads of more money into the 10th mountain and come up with the body of that fucker.
Annex Canada and do actual nation building in Mexico. Just straight take over North America.
Then, Plow from the West Coast of Africa Eastward to the shores of Tiawan. There will be peace and prosperity for generations to come.

I'm a conservative, and yes - I agree. Defense spending (along with all other spending) needs to be restrained.

I'm sure the Obama administration will look to cut defense spending - after greatly increasing the budgets of all the other government agencies last year.

And remember - it is not defense or any discretionary spending that will bankrupt this country. It is entitlements, period. Look at Greece! Our medicare, medicaid, social security, and now Obamacare liabilities will be our demise (unless we reform them).

There was another article in regards to military pay being cut, as well. I tend to agree with that, as well...and that's my paycheck. lol. Pay wouldn't be cut, but it wouldn't continue to grow as it has. The growth just cannot be sustained.

There needs to be a drastic cut in military spending, but like most government spending, the waste needs to be cut. R&D needs to stay the same. Military R&D is what drives advancements in the public sector.

Waste: we gave the Afghans half a mil to start growing a couple fields of saffron. When I say fields, we're talking the size of a small-medium sized yard. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world once it is harvested. More expensive than cocaine. The return was $5,000.

That's one of many examples. The military is absolutely hemorrhaging money over here. Just throwing it away.

The sooner we get out of this shithole, the better. We need a drop day for this place. Set a date and that's when we pull and that's when the money dries up.

we're gonna nation build in Afghanistan is a pipedream- there is no true central govt and no standing army- its a money pit- get the hell out and if need be you can return with spec ops or B1's ... the issue remains the security of nukes in neighboring Pakistan but that changes when baracky's buddy armpitforadinnerjacket gets his nukes.. strange days indeed

Crankmas wrote:... armpitforadinnerjacket

Now thats funny!!

It has started already:

U.S. House Panel Adds Missile Defense Funds

The U.S. House subcommittee that oversees missile defense programs voted May 12 to boost spending on them in 2011, disregarding the president's February budget request and more recent warnings from the defense secretary that defense spending must be restrained.

The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee added $361.6 million to next year's defense budget to beef up ballistic missile defense programs. That includes $50 million for the Airborne Laser, a 15-year-old program so plagued by problems and delays that Defense Secretary Robert Gates all but canceled it last year. ...

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http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i= ... =BUD&s=TOP

This isn't a democrat vs republican issue, it's an executive bransh vs legislative branch issue. Except for Reagan, every president since WWII has tried to reduce defense spending, but it just keeps getting pumped back up by Congress because defense money is the best kind of pork for any district.

You are accurate and bringing up great points Mike. But you are part of the military/industrial complex! Are you self-loathing??

No, I'm just in a good position to see what's wrong with the system. Of course, the program I work on is VITALLY important (ha ha).