Pentagon buyer says defense budget should go up

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Yahoo / Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are recommending that President-elect Barack Obama boost overall defense spending for at least the next five years, the top U.S. arms buyer said on Thursday.

"It's just a template for the next team," John Young, the Pentagon's acquisition chief told Reuters after a breakfast session with reporters. "It's the recommendation of the president and the SecDef (Gates)."

Young refused to say how big an increase was being recommended to Obama, who becomes president on January 20.

Asked about reports that the defense budget recommendation for fiscal 2010, due to be sent to Congress in early February, would be about $56 billion above previously planned levels, he said: "I've seen a number like that."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081120/pl_nm/us_usa_military_budget

[MessiahRp]

1. Um no.

You assholes lost $1-2 trillion of our money... go FIND IT. In the meantime we'll slash all funding to your department until you do.

If we just cut Pentagon Spending in half, we'd be able to help stabilize our economy pretty quickly.

Rp

[OneBlueSky]

2. um . . . we're already spending more on "defense" than all other nations combined . . .

what we need to do is reduce defense spending dramatically and re-direct those dollars to a Manhattan Project for alternative energy and energy conservation . . .

[no_hypocrisy]

3. I thought we were already bailing out The Pentagon.

[caraher]

5. The best-funded, longest-running welfare program going...

Corporate welfare for the defense contractors - more sacrosanct than Social Security.

This is all about setting the bar stupidly high so next time the Republicans can scream that Obama eviscerated our national defense. As if security were directly proportional to money squandered.

[lanlady]

4. just what the country needs

more guns, less butter.
:crazy::crazy::crazy::crazy::crazy:

[unhappycamper]

6. Pssst

The 2009 military budget is almost a trillion a year.