White House Details Destructive Defense Cuts

With excruciating detail, the White House budget office on Friday laid out exactly where it will have to cut $109 billion from federal spending in January, including $11.1 billion from Medicare and $54.7 billion from defense spending.

The defense cuts include $21.5 billion from operations and maintenance for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines and the reserves and National Guard, and nearly $1.4 billion from military aide to Afghanistan, with tens of billions coming from procurement and other Pentagon accounts.

“The report leaves no question that the sequestration would be deeply destructive to national security, domestic investments, and core government functions,” the White House budget office said in the report.

The cuts fall particularly heavy on the federal civilian workforce, where staffing levels and salaries would be docked more than 8 percent almost across the board.

Border fencing and technology would take a $33 million hit, and salaries and staffing for the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement would also be cut.

And at a time when embassy security is under question following the recent attacks, that account would be cut by $129 million.

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I thought the government couldn't create jobs

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The Prof said:

White House details 'destructive' defense cuts - Washington Times

here come the pink slips

Defense firms say layoff warnings loom - POLITICO

expect heavy hits in florida, the panhandle and jacksonville regions

in north carolina, the research triangle of raleigh-durham

and especially virginia where, they say, 100K defense industry jobs are imperiled

that'd be norfolk-hampton roads

as for those 8% paycuts for civilian workforce, look to fairfax county, north VA

those latter two, virginia and NC---the cuts impact districts so swing they habitually determine state elections

“the price of politics, by washington post associate editor bob woodward, makes it clear the idea for the draconian spending cuts originated in the white house---and not in congress"

Bob Woodward sequester book could bolster GOP attack on W.H. - POLITICO

too clever by leaps, the president, according to woodward, patted himself on his skinny back for this machiavellian coup that trapped republicans who could never go along with a half T reduction to pentagon spending, which defense secretary panetta has repeatedly called "devastating"

obama couldn't see that in the weeks before the election it would be his pentagon that would be constitutionally responsible for itemizing and laying out exactly where these draconian cuts must fall?

ie, hampton roads, raleigh-durham, fairfax?

what can you expect from an "ultra competitive egotist," "who's not as good as he thinks he is," "an insufferable overachiever," who can't say if the home of anwar sadat is or is not an ally

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/u...itics-and-everything-else.html?pagewanted=all

you don't demand mere competence from those you entrust to lead?

more power to you

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Wiseone said:

We closed down an entire theater of war, Iraq, and people still think its crazy to speak of defense cuts. But I guess like Prof says we gotta keep using the government to employ people because the free market can't do it right?

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we gotta keep using the government to employ people because the free market can't do it right?

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winston53660 said:

I guess we could make many needed fixes and improvements to infrastructure

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PeteEU said:

Ahh as usual, the American right running from responsibility.

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Aberration said:

Far from it. I am on the right, and I hope the cuts go through.

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PeteEU said:

Then you are one of the few.. since the GOP is doing everything it can to prevent the cuts.

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