I really, really have a hard time taking this seriously:
After months of refusing to plan for how the Pentagon budget could or should be trimmed further, senior Defense Department officials have begun examining in earnest how the military would respond to automatic spending reductions if a budget deal eludes President Obama and Congress past the end of the year.
Officially, senior Pentagon officials say their budget planning efforts, which began earlier this week, were set off by an order from the Office of Management and Budget.
But as the number of days in which to reach a deal dwindles, it seems clear that the government bureaucracy has surrendered to the practical impulse for prudent planning.
“Initial planning has begun on the ‘fiscal cliff,’ ” George Little, the Pentagon press secretary, said Friday, using the Washington term of choice for the automatic, across-the-board cuts that would be ordered if there is no deal on taxes and spending.The Pentagon could face reductions of $500 billion over the next 10 years, representing roughly 5 to 8 percent of its budget.
Am I really supposed to be worried about the security of this nation just because the Pentagon might have to shave off a tiny fragment of its bloated and mammoth budget. Hell, even Republicans, before they went completely bonkers, back in the days of the 500 dollar hammers nonsense, would have agreed you could take 5% out of the budget and nothing bad would happen.
Personally, I’m just going to rely on the circumcision rule, which states you can safely lop 5% off of anything.