Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
#31
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This is from the link mentioned above. Is the military budget entirely Obama's doing?
"DoD Tries to Save Money, But Congress Won't Let It The Defense Department knows it needs to become more efficient. It now spends a third of its budget on personnel and maintenance. That will rise to 100% by 2024, thanks to retirement and medical costs. That leaves no funds for procurement, research and development, construction, or housing. These necessary support programs now take up more than a third of DoD's budget. (Source: Center for Strategy and Budgetary Assessments, Pay Will Swallow DoD Budget by 2024, April 8, 2013) How could the DoD become more efficient? First, it needs to rationally reduce its civilian workforce, which grew by 100,000 in the last decade, instead of resorting to hiring freezes and unpaid furloughs. Second, it must reduce pay and benefits costs for each soldier. Instead, it plans to raise both. Third, and most important, it should close unneeded military bases. By its own estimates, the DoD is operating with 21% excess capacity in all its facilities. However, Congress won't allow it. The Bi-Partisan Budget Act of 2013 blocked future military base closings. Few elected officials are willing to risk losing local jobs caused by base closures in their states. The Pentagon will be forced to reduce the number of actual soldiers so it can afford these benefits. (Source: WSJ, Pentagon Lays Out Way to Slash Spending, August 1, 2013) Congress is also reluctant to allow DoD to cut other costs, like military health benefits and the growth of military pay. It recently gave service-members a 1% pay increase, but cut the cost-of-living-adjustment by 1% for veterans who retire before age 62. However, disabled veterans and surviving families had the cut re-instated. (Source: Stars and Stripes, House Quickly OKs Bipartisan Budget Deal, December 12, 2013; CNN, Disabled Veterans Get Back Pension Raises, January 14, 2014) Sequestration would have cut defense spending by $487 billion in ten years if it had continued. However, many Congressmen said the cuts would jeopardize national security. They were particularly concerned about a cutback of about 100,000 troops, closure of domestic military bases, and termination of some weapons systems -- all of which would have cost jobs and revenue in their districts. That's why defense spending is the only budget area that rarely gets focused on as an area to cut. (Source: Reuters, Lawmakers skeptical of cuts in 2013 defense budget, February 15, 2012) Military spending is the second largest Federal government expenditure, after Social Security ($967 billion). If all military spending could somehow be safely eliminated, there would be a budget surplus of $266 billion, instead of a $503 billion budget deficit. Article updated February 23, 2016. Federal Budget Overview" US Military Budget: Components, Challenges, Growth |
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