Question of the day for fiscal conservatives: Should Defense be immune from budget cuts? In defense of Defense, it's actually a constitutionally prescribed duty of the federal government, unlike a lot of the other nonsense that is funded these days. And keeping us safe from all the evil in the world is a complicated business, so the fear of cutting the wrong thing is justified. BUT. The cuts needed in government, especially i9n the short term, just can't be made without considering Defense:
We should be looking strategically at the role of the US in the world, especially in Europe. We spend a fortune providing security to what has become a very stable and interconnected region. Our investment in Europe should be reconsidered in light of our economic problems. We won't be able to withdraw from Korea for obvious reasons, nor should we scale back our naval power as we need to continue to protect shipping routes for secure and reliable global trade. If we really want to stop deficit spending now, we have to look for the opportunities to cut in the short term as well as the painful and necessary long-term reforms in entitlements, and that means the Pentagon is going to have to share the load.
For obvious reasons, we need to be more careful in cutting Defense than in cutting other federal spending. But it can't be off the table completely.
