TPMDC pentagon: January 2012
Defense Spending
Top Defense Dem: GOP Must Blink First To Avoid Pentagon Cuts
Despite a brewing panic among Congressional Republicans (and some Democrats) over automatic, across-the-board defense cuts set to kick in on January 1, 2013, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee says those cuts must stand unless and until Republicans relent on their anti-tax absolutism, and agree on a balanced deficit reduction package that includes higher revenue.
"The purpose of the sequester is to force us to act to avoid the sequester," Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor roundtable. "It's like a nuclear weapon -- it's totally useless; it can't be used except to accomplish some other goal than its use. It's used to deter."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Carl Levin, Debt, Debt Ceiling, Defense Spending, Deficit, Medicare, Pentagon budget, Senate Armed Services Committee, Super Committee, Tax Cuts, Taxes, pentagon
Barack Obama
Defense Secretary Panetta: Defense Cuts Come With 'Additional But Acceptable Risk'
President Barack Obama at the Pentagon on Thursday said that even though the Defense Department's budget will shrink, the U.S. military will remain a strong force.
The first U.S. president to deliver a briefing at the Pentagon, Obama said, "Yes, our military will be leaner, but the world must know, the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with Armed Forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Leon Panetta, Pentagon budget, pentagon
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