Letter: Pentagon can afford a 10% cut
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during the opening of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) 11th Asia Security Summit in Singapore. (June 2, 2012) Credit: AP
Sequestration is currently the voodoo curse feared by Washington. The upcoming 10 percent cut in defense and other spending is a result of the failure of Congress to reach agreement on federal budget cuts.
Sequestration and the deficit-reduction problem could have been resolved if House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had won approval of the bargain he and the president originally reached. The speaker failed to convince his caucus. With the Republicans subject to the power of the tea party and married to their oaths never to raise taxes, their rhetoric is self-serving.
It is doubtful that many mainstream Americans believe a 10 percent reduction phased in over time to a budget in the billions will weaken national defense.
