Yes, Oregonian supports Defense Department cuts

In their editorial “Fighting the wrong budget battles,” the Oregonian calls for Defense Department budget cuts (here). I agree:

Members of Congress are gearing up for the arguments over the defense authorization bill, which may hit the Senate floor as soon as next week. And, as usual, many will be more concerned with their own elections than with what's best for the country.

What's best for the country is helping the Pentagon rein in a nearly $700 billion annual budget that is riddled with inefficiency, burdened with excess overhead and creaking under the weight of costly programs that have little practical use. With an exceptionally sound-thinking secretary of defense and a supportive president, Congress could seize a real opportunity to reform the way the Pentagon spends money.

Nevertheless, you can count on senators to argue that the defense contractors in their districts are doing work too important to reduce, that ending the ban on gay military personnel will threaten the integrity of the service branches, or that certain military commands are essential to national security. This will be followed by press releases declaring that the senator "stood up to Washington" or "stood up for his district."

If you scrape away the retail politicking, you'll see a serious effort to change at least some of the foolish ways that the Pentagon does business. And it's way overdue, as just about every independent review of defense practices makes clear: You can't rummage through reports without running across rampant overcharges and overruns by contractors, poor oversight of spending programs and failures to adequately plan or coordinate programs.

Comments

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poor oversight of spending programs and failures to adequately plan or coordinate programs.

[Pandora]

This will be followed by press releases declaring that the senator "stood up to Washington" or "stood up for his district."

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If you scrape away the retail politicking, you'll see a serious effort to change at least some of the foolish ways that the Pentagon does business. And it's way overdue

[christian louboutin]

With an exceptionally sound-thinking secretary of defense and a supportive president, Congress could seize a real opportunity to reform the way the Pentagon spends money.

[Tory Burch]

Members of Congress are gearing up for the arguments over the defense authorization bill, which may hit the Senate floor as soon as next week. And, as usual, many will be more concerned with their own elections than with what's best for the country.