US defense budget could be trimmed by 1 trillion $ over the next 10 years

[Tender Branson]

Would be great if they actually did it ...

Task force seeks to trim $960 billion from Pentagon budget

Group eyes big-ticket weapons, force size to reduce costs over 10 years

By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Pentagon could save nearly $1 trillion over the next 10 years if would reduce the size of its fighting force and dump a handful of heavy-weapon programs that have long histories of trouble and cost growth, a bipartisan task force said Friday.

The Sustainable Defense Task Force, formed under the auspices of U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D, Mass.), said chopping back the procurement of dud projects could save the country $88.7 billion.

In the group's sights are the Marine's Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, built by General Dynamics Corp., Textron Inc. unit Bell Helicopter's MV-22 Osprey and the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

"The development of the F-35 is rapidly going the way of the F-22 Raptor: late, over cost and less capable that promised," the task force said in its report. "However, even if the aircraft performed according to specifications, it would not be needed in order for us to defeat current and emerging challenges."

[chopped off by Lunar]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/task-force-seeks-1-trillion-cut-in-defense-budget-2010-06-11?reflink=MW_news_stmp

[Ban my account ffs!]

Good.  That is all I have to say.  We could bleed the Pentagon like a stuck pig and it'll still be healthy and fat when all is said and done.

[King]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?  And McCain toolishly agrees?

And then they complain about the deficit?

[Landslide Lyndon]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?  And McCain toolishly agrees?

And then they complain about the deficit?

Of course silly! Every self-respecting conservative knows that the main deficit culprits are earmarks and welfare queeens.

[Zarn]

Wasn't the F-35 one of the reasons why we dropped the F-22?

I thought the F-35 was suppose to be in production until something better (outside of the F-22) comes along.

We spend so much tax dollars on these programs and we pulled the plug twice. That is a lot of wasted resources. Social Security is the other huge burden.

[Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand.]

I am still hoping for the day that the military will start producing mechs.

[Zarn]

I am still hoping for the day that the military will start producing mechs.

Sounds impractical...

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Sounds good in general, but we need the F-35B as a replacement for the Harriers.  It's been 13 years since the last all-new Harrier left the factory.  While conceivably purchases of the A and C variants could be replaced by F-16E/F's for the F-35A and F-18E/F's for the F-35C, with the F-35B remaining in production, I'm dubious that there would be significant cost savings, especially in the case of dropping the F-35C.

[The Mikado]

If there's one program that totally needs to be eliminated, it's the failed National Missile Defense effort, which would be useless even if it worked.  Any nuclear threat we may face will be from bombs smuggled into the country (which the shield would be useless against), not from ballistic missiles.  (Don't even mention North Korea: a DPRK missile would be more likely to blow up on the launching pad than to successfully reach its target).

[RIP Robert H Bork]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?  And McCain toolishly agrees?

And then they complain about the deficit?

It is hurting our national security. I understand some of the people here who want military cuts, but $1 trillion being cut from our defense is going way too far.

[Franzl]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?  And McCain toolishly agrees?

And then they complain about the deficit?

It is hurting our national security. I understand some of the people here who want military cuts, but $1 trillion being cut from our defense is going way too far.

Explain why.

[Vepres]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?  And McCain toolishly agrees?

And then they complain about the deficit?

It is hurting our national security. I understand some of the people here who want military cuts, but $1 trillion being cut from our defense is going way too far.

Explain why.

Because the Soviet Union could launch an attack and... oh wait.

[President Mitt]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?  And McCain toolishly agrees?

And then they complain about the deficit?

It is hurting our national security. I understand some of the people here who want military cuts, but $1 trillion being cut from our defense is going way too far.

Explain why.

Because the Soviet Union could launch an attack and... oh wait.

Don't forget the Redcoats, they are just one jump across Lake Erie you know...

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?  And McCain toolishly agrees?

And then they complain about the deficit?

It is hurting our national security. I understand some of the people here who want military cuts, but $1 trillion being cut from our defense is going way too far.

Explain why.

Given how much we spend, I echo Franzl's question to TC.......whose answers I respect.

[Padfoot]

Even if they're only able to muscle through half of the proposed cuts it would be a huge accomplishment and would put military spendthrifts on watch.  Hopefully we'll be out of Iraq relatively soon as well which coupled with Afghanistan is currently a huge hidden cost to the American taxpayers.

[dead0man]

How long till Hannity proclaims this is hurting our national security?

Now I hate Hannity as much as anybody but how is it NOT hurting our national security to have less war fighting capabilities?  Yeah, it might not ever come up, but having fewer F35s is worse than having more.  It's like leaving a window open unlocked somewhere in your house, sure your house still probably won't be broken into, but you are less secure.

I am still hoping for the day that the military will start producing mechs.

Sounds impractical...

Because it is.  Bipedal robots suck.  You either need an ass ton of feet/legs or tracks/tires.  Tracks or tires are much cheaper and easier to design and maintain.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

dead0man's job relies on massive military spending and unneeded boondoggles, of course he supports bloating the military budget.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

dead0man's job relies on massive military spending and unneeded boondoggles, of course he supports bloating the military budget.

Haha.

[Derek]

that's a Sept.10 mindset. Be careful.

[King]

that's a Sept.10 mindset. Be careful.

You're right. I felt like this September 10th, 2009 as well.

So, how do we eliminate the budget deficit without cutting defense spending?

[justW353]

that's a Sept.10 mindset. Be careful.

Yes...because we need a trillion dollars to find some 65 year old man hiding in a cave...

We spend 1 trillion a year on defense.  It's cutting spending by 200 billion dollars a year...Maybe I should put it in a way you would understand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9kXPTwIO08

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

that's a Sept.10 mindset. Be careful.

Yes...because we need a trillion dollars to find some 65 year old man hiding in a cave...

We spend 1 trillion a year on defense.  It's cutting spending by 200 billion dollars a year...Maybe I should put it in a way you would understand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9kXPTwIO08

That's way too little a cut. We need to at least reduce it to 200 billion dollars a year rather than just by that amount.

[Derek]

that's a Sept.10 mindset. Be careful.

You're right. I felt like this September 10th, 2009 as well.

So, how do we eliminate the budget deficit without cutting defense spending?

I put a government reform bill on individual politics. Check it out it's up for discussion.

[Derek]

that's a Sept.10 mindset. Be careful.

Yes...because we need a trillion dollars to find some 65 year old man hiding in a cave...

We spend 1 trillion a year on defense.  It's cutting spending by 200 billion dollars a year...Maybe I should put it in a way you would understand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9kXPTwIO08

It may work if we had an across the board cut in spending.

[fezzyfestoon]

If only.