Next on the agenda: Reassign the triggered "defense" cuts

[woo me with science]

to another part of the budget.

Important points in these three articles:

1. Analysts predict that the "triggered" defense cuts will never happen.
2. Despite the much-discussed "trigger," the Pentagon is not even planning for spending reductions.
3. Panetta warns Congress that benefits for military and their families are on the table if cuts are allowed to go through.

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1. PENTAGON BUDGET CUTS WILL NEVER HAPPEN: ANALYSTS
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2011/11/22/pentagon-budget-cuts-will-never-happen-analysts/?mod=google_news_blog

The failure of the so-called congressional supercommittee to close up the gaping U.S. budget deficit means America’s armed forces now face a budget cut of $600 billion over the next 10 years beginning in 2013.

But many Washington insiders say it will never happen.
....
the Budget Control Act gives Congress plenty of loopholes.

First off it gives the Pentagon, the defense industry and their lobbyists a whole year to pressure political allies into delaying legislation to reduce military spending. And with 2012 being an election year, Congress could put off addressing the cuts until after November, and then vote to delay sequestration until several months into the new year, giving a Congress time to develop an alternative, the CSBA said.

Then there’s a loophole in the law that exempts “war funding,” creating an incentive for the Pentagon to move items from the base budget to the war budget.
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2. DESPITE THREAT OF CUTS, PENTAGON OFFICIALS MADE NO CONTINGENCY PLANS
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/us/despite-threat-of-cuts-pentagon-made-no-contingency-plans.html

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has painted such an apocalyptic vision of America’s national security under $500 billion in automatic defense budget cuts that Pentagon officials said Tuesday they were pushing back at Congress — and not even planning for the spending reductions, which are to take effect in January 2013. But independent military budget analysts described the cuts, which would bring the Pentagon base budget back to 2007 levels, as agonizing but manageable.

The analysts, who have close ties to the Pentagon, expressed amazement that a department that plans for every contingency was not planning for this one...

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3. STOP AUTOMATIC DEFENSE CUTS, PANETTA URGES CONGRESS
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/22/us-usa-debt-defense-panetta-idUSTRE7AL05220111122

WASHINGTON | Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:08pm EST
....
"If Congress fails to act over the next year, the Department of Defense will face devastating, automatic, across-the-board cuts that will tear a seam in the nation's defense," Panetta said in a statement.
....
Panetta said he backed Obama's "call for Congress to avoid an easy way out of this crisis. Congress cannot simply turn off the sequester mechanism, but instead must pass deficit reduction at least equal to the $1.2 trillion it was charged to pass." (in other words, spare the military and increase the cuts elsewhere)
....
The Pentagon's ability to provide benefits and support for U.S. troops and their families also would be jeopardized if the automatic cuts are allowed to go into effect, he said.

[Faux pas]

1. Sheesh.

[FreakinDJ]

2. All they have to do is get rid of the Contractors

[Scuba]

3. If Panetta worked for me he'd be fired. n/t