Pentagon Does Not Want New Congressional Jets by Gregory Hilton

I support our troops and President Obama’s threatened veto of $2.8 billion in pork barrel spending. A spokesman for Defense Secretary Gates says the unnecessary spending Congress is requesting: “Just forces us to take money from things we do need to fund and redirect it for things we don’t need, and in a time of war, we just can’t afford that.” The Congress also wants to spend $550 million to buy eight business-class passenger jets to ferry senior government officials.
President Obama has proposed a zero growth defense budget through 2014. We are also experiencing a procurement holiday and worn out equipment is not being replaced. Obama is not requesting new presidential helicopters but now the House is setting aside $485 million toward reviving this terminated program.
The House included more than 1,000 additional spending provisions totaling more than $2.8 billion. We are experiencing significant setbacks and casualties in Afghanistan, and do we really want to take funds away from our troops to be spent on luxury travel for lawmakers?
Our nation paid a high price when Congress decimated our covert operations budget in the past. The Pentagon will also have to suffer because of stimulus spending. According to the survey data few people are concerned about defense spending right now, and the outcry after 9/11 has faded. Obama is not going to veto the defense bill and the final product will be determined in the Senate, but we should support the President when he makes an attempt to restore funding for the troops. To meet budget requirements last week, Defense Secretary Gates ordered $54 billion more be cut from the Pentagon’s five-year defense budget plan.