Tax Watchdogs Pitch Defense Cuts

By Mike Hothi

A panel led today by a group of government watchdogs proposed a series of defense spending cuts that they argued would not threaten the nation’s level of national security.

One suggestion was to defund the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). MEADS is a program that is designed to replace the aging Patriot systems in the United States, Germany and Italy. Patriot systems are surface-to-air missiles that are used to destroy aircraft or other missiles.

“The Army doesn’t want the project,” said Taxpayers Protection Alliance President David Williams. “There is no reason that the Pentagon can’t cancel the program as soon as possible.”

Another proposal was to prevent funding to General Electric’s efforts to create an affordable substitute for current jet fighters. President Obama has openly criticized funding for the alternate engine.

“The three billion dollar alternate engine will siphon away much needed defense dollars that could be spent protecting American lives,” Williams stated.

The Department of Defense stopped funding the alternate engine program in March but a House Armed Services subcommittee passed legislation requiring the Pentagon to extend funding if it were asked by the developer for more money.

Today’s discussion took place hours before the new Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction was scheduled to hold another meeting. The committee is tasked with formulating a plan to shrink the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. Failure by the committee to do so would result in a series of automatic cuts to domestic and defense spending equal to that $1.5 trillion target.