by Brian Johnson November 5, 2010
Budget trade offs
Would cutting force structure be an acceptable tradeoff to prevent cuts in pay and benefits, even if it lead to a higher deployment tempo?
There are 3 answers available to choose from, all of which lead to accepting the premise that this is going to happen. The answers are:
- Yes
- No
- Cuts should be balanced in both areas
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
In the world of politics, cutting Defense is a now a top priority? Maintaining a strong national defense is one of the few primary duties of the federal government - establish justice, keep the peace, provide for the common defense, promote (not provide) the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty. I can't find anywhere in the Constitution where it says "establish a Department of Agriculture" Or for that matter, the National Endowment for the Arts, or the EPA, or of the Interior, or of Education, or HUD, or a hell of a lot more. Why are these bloated bureaucracies off the table for cuts - or to abolish altogether? They are exactly why the federal government is massive. These politicians create these huge, inefficient, and sometime harmful, behemoths which suck the wealth out of the hands of the people, and deliver it to government bureaucrats.
The Department of Agriculture doesn't grow one damn ear of corn. It sets agricultural policy for the U.S. That is, it tells farmers what to grow, where to grow it, and in a lot of cases pays farmers not to grow anything! This has the effect of artificially setting price controls. ABOLISH IT!
How about the Environmental Protection Agency? They, more than any other agency are responsible for many of the problems we are in. They are a roadblock to progress and to business. The U/S. energy policy is in complete disarray because of the Marxists at the EPA. ABOLISH IT!
The Department of Education, next to the EPA, the darling of the leftists. Since the creation of the Dept. of Education, test score have steadily declined, drop-out rates have skyrocketed, and we are getting beat in math and science by third world countries. But our kids "feel good about themselves". ABOLISH IT!
Getting rid of those three Departments would cut Billions of dollars from federal spending. If the Constitution does not talk about it, the issue goes back to the states. Let the states come up with education policies that fit their needs. One size fits all mandates from the federal government doesn't work. In fact, the federal government controlling these things lends itself to loan shark-like tactics, threatening to withhold funds to states who don't comply with Fed mandates.
If cutting military benefits, manpower, etc., is what is on the table, contact your Representative and tell them that this is not acceptable. They need to do the hard work and find cuts elsewhere. How about in some of those Departments that is not supported by the Constitution?
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