A Key To Winning Our Country Back
Here we are 7 months into the new 112th Congress, who just last November, received a huge makeover and a mandate to "Cut Spending"! And how successful have they been? How much have they saved? That's easy "0"!
We started out with dreams of cutting $400-500 Billion a year, in light of deficits that had increased by over $1.2 Trillion per year! They quickly sliced and diced that down to $100 Billion, only to come back from negotiations with the President with $61 Billion, which quickly shrank to $38 Billion. But alas, as with most things Congressional, it was all smoke and mirrors, since that deal turned into just a few million in real dollars, just before we found out that the cost of the war in Libya, the first week, ate that up! And today the Speaker is negotiating tax hikes with Obama to make permanent many of his spending increases!
We have been through the Continuing Resolution battle, the 2011 Budget battle, the ongoing 2012 Budget battle and the Debt Ceiling debates, and where are we? We've not saved a thin red penny, but we managed to add $17 Billion to the Pentagon Budget!! It is said we are close to a deal, yeah right. They speak of spending cuts that that sound good until you realize they mean over ten years, a drop in the bucket, essentially meaningless, just sound bites. The promise of a Balanced Budget Amendment; at best, with a miracle or two, that process could be realized in 6 to 8 years and if it isn't indexed to a percentage of GDP, look out for tax hikes!! We need immediate answers, immediate spending cuts, no more rhetoric, just honest governing. We need the Congress to stop abdicating it's duty and begin exercising its First Branch powers!
The founding fathers were most concerned over two things, a standing army and a central bank, convinced that either was a great threat to liberty. Today we have both and neither of them is audited! That is frightening and can probably account for much of the mess we find ourselves in.
The DOD/Pentagon is the largest department of Government, indeed it consumes nearly half of the entire world's defense spending! I want to let you know about the “Pentagon Petition” which seeks to make sure Congress understands that all departments must come under the spotlight of scrutiny. I hope that you agree and can support the petition and forward to your associates and group members for their consideration as well. Join many leading conservatives and Tea Party Leaders in supporting responsible across the board cuts in all departments of the Federal Government.
If the Republicans can address DOD spending cuts, then it will be the key toward further, larger, more meaningful spending cuts and reforms that the Democrats have so vociferously refused to go along with to date. Especially since the base Pentagon budget has more than doubled over the last decade!!
If the Republicans insist on protecting the Pentagon, the Democrats will insist on protecting their sacred cows. Where do you start? If you are as tired as I am of the Congress spinning its wheels and getting nowhere on spending cuts, how about insisting the Pentagon/DOD institute a standardized accounting system so that they can be audited, the cost ratios can be determined and the Congress can assess the effectiveness of programs, because right now they don’t have a handle on it and just keep throwing money at the Pentagon to play it safe. Senator Tom Coburn illustrates the need to audit the Pentagon in this eye-opening letter: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Sen-Tom-Coburn-Americas-Fiscal-Defense-Crisis-06412/
Immediately, we can start cutting in Germany with over 200 bases! I thought the cold war ended a few decades ago. Then there is Japan with over 100 bases and S. Korea with more than 80 and counting. All told we have over 1,000 bases in 135 countries. Talk about an empire. Surely we can find a few to cut back on, or maybe, more than a few. At any rate we have to get the ball rolling. If we can't get them to give them up, how about relocate a few to the Southwest border and spend those dollars here!
Then of course there is the GAO report that shows duplicative and wasteful programs. There is a lot to cut without fear of hurting the troops or the defense mission. The troops serving in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are funded through supplemental appropriations separate from the regular Pentagon budget, but an open and fair process in reducing spending is needed to ensure they won’t be made the easy target and our security suffer as a result.
Speaking of duplicative programs did you know that besides the U.S. Air Force, the Army has it’s own air force, as does the Navy, which also has it’s own army, the Marines, who not to be out done has their own air force as well? Frighteningly this is not rare instance, but rather it is indicative of how the DOD/Pentagon operates.
The greatest threat our country faces today, is a financial one, wrought of the excesses of the DOD/Pentagon, the manipulations of the Federal Reserve, untended trade deficits and the avarice of the big banks and the financial industry. Reining in the Pentagon and DOD spending is not the whole answer, but is a start, and takes away the blind corner where the Congress continues to feed it’s spending addiction.
I know and appreciate how hard you work for the cause of liberty! Please take a couple of minutes to read the petition and go on line to sign it! And please, please forward this on to your friends and associates. Thanks so much.
For Liberty’s Sake
Tom Whitmore
Please Sign The Pentagon Petition
Please, sign the Committee For The Republic Petition to tell the 112th Congress that no department or program is sacred; that they must all remain on the table as we seek ways to cut spending, including Pentagon, and reduce the deficit. Until we get serious about cuts in the DOD, we will not gain significant support from Democrats on other spending cuts or entitlement reforms!
The Pentagon Petition
The 112th Congress, tasked with a clear mandate to cut spending, must look to not only cut spending now, but permanently arrest the bias towards the careless wastefulness, bred of cronyism, that has plagued Washington for too long. To that end, lawmakers must dismiss the erroneous assumptions that have led to sacrosanct budgeting; no longer can select departments and programs enjoy protected status in the appropriations process. Conservatives should enthusiastically reject the notion that any area of the federal budget should be protected from examination. Attempts to isolate departments or programs from scrutiny undermine any serious efforts for positive spending reform — for this and many generations to come. Any policymaker determined to cut government spending must commit to keeping spending cuts in all departments on the table — whether efficiencies can be realized in the Department of Defense or the Department of Education, they must all be considered fair game in the battle to instill fiscal prudence in federal spending.
http://committeefortherepublic.org/?page_id=9
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If you ever needed proof that when government grows too big, it will lose control, you have it here: In January 2011, at a news conference, Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “My own experience here is that in doubling (the Pentagon budget over the last decade), we’ve lost our ability to prioritize, to make hard decisions, to do tough analysis, to make trades.” Adm. Mullen leads the largest government agency in the U.S.A., indeed, the whole world.
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"Our exploding federal debt is the greatest threat to the Republic. Republicans are in a unique position to make spending cuts in our largest federal department. Pentagon savings will enable Republicans to exact greater domestic spending cuts from Democrats. By adding your name to The Petition, you are helping address the $14 Trillion plus debt Washington politicians have run up.
Before CPAC, The Pentagon Petition was signed by dozens of leading conservatives, including Grover Norquist, David Keene, Richard Viguerie and Al Regnery. By coming together with one voice, The Petition persuaded Congressional Republicans to reverse their policy of exempting the Pentagon from spending cuts.
Unfortunately, our work has just begun. While paying lip service to The Pentagon Petition, the Republican leadership is timid and continues to rubberstamp Pentagon spending. That is why we need you to spread the word among fellow conservatives. We urge you to direct your friends and colleagues to http://committeefortherepublic.org/?page_id=9 and ask them to sign The Pentagon Petition.”
Thank You, for all that you do, for Liberty
