Robert Gates Plays Budget Game
You’ve seen the headlines: U.S. Defense Department To Close Major Command, Slash Spending reads the one from the Voice of America. Slashing military spending? Is it possible? Have the days of military waste really come to an end?
Don’t bet on it. There is no slashing. The cuts are not cuts.
The budget changes proposed by Secretary Robert Gates would not reduce the military budget. They would merely create a slight decrease in the rate of the military budget’s annual increase.
Secretary Gates has stated this openly: “To be clear, the task before us is not to reduce the department’s top-line budget. Rather, it is to significantly reduce its excess overhead costs and apply the savings to force structure and modernization.”
It’s important to remember, as well, that any spending changes devised by Secretary of Gates need to be reviewed and approved by Congress. In the past, Congress has responded to efforts to cut military programs (amidst general large increases in military spending) by restoring funding, and swelling pork barrel spending to previously unheard of levels.
We’re seeing headlines about a slash. Expect to see, instead, a swell.