Armed Services Chair: No Defense Cuts And No Tax Increases

By Adrianna McGinley

In a press conference Thursday, Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee announced the recommendations they’ll make to the Congressional supercommittee, primarily their desire to see no further defense cuts.

Armed Services Committee Chairman, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), said defense has already taken more than enough cuts and no more will be accepted.

“One of the things we heard was that everything should be on the table, and while many of us on the Armed Services Committee didn’t agree with that, we understood where the American people were,” McKeon said. “I personally, and I think many members of the committee, feel that we have gone overboard on the cuts…defense was on the table, and in the first round, it took up half of the table.”

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said more cuts would put the military in a position of having to choose where to engage and where not, putting national security at risk.

“I don’t think the American people understand, and they need to, what these defense cuts mean,” Hunter said. 

Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) pointed out the effect cuts would have on the average American, saying if more cuts are implemented, using conservative estimates, there would be job losses exceeding the number of unemployed people in 13 different states combined.

When asked if tax increases would be accepted in place of defense cuts, McKeon said, “there is no one here who would vote for tax increases.” He added, “I don’t think it’s our job on this committee to do the super committee’s work of solving their problem … I don’t need to help them and try to give them ideas.”

Standing committees are set to formally present recommendations to the super committee tomorrow.

Barney Frank Proposes Steep Military Cuts

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told progressive activists gathered in Washington Tuesday morning that the only path to a long-term deficit reduction plan is via substantial defense cuts.

“There is no way at all to do a socially responsible deficit reduction plan…without very significant reductions in military spending,” Frank animatedly told participants of the Take Back the American Dream conference.

The current U.S. military budget is $670.9 billion, which is more than any other military in the world. Frank suggested reductions between $225-250 billion per year.

“We overspend because we are overcommitted,” Frank said.

“I am all for America being the strongest nation in the world, but the substantial problem is that we have acted now for 60 years as if we had to be not only the protectors of the world but the guarantor of stability in the world,” Frank added.

Frank argued that the U.S is not only protecting its own country but also heavily subsidizing the defense of the wealthy nations of Europe. According to Frank, the U.S. is spending more now proportionately than during the Cold War.

Frank justified that military spending reductions will lead to more money that can be invested in jobs production.

“They are talking about $1.25 trillion in deficit and we can do twice that in military alone and be a stronger and better and happier nation because of it,” he said.

Opponents of defense cuts, however, say doing so would substantially increase unemployment and further plunge the U.S into economic instability.  

The three-day conference, which concludes tomorrow, is giving progressive activists a chance to share strategies to advance their economic agenda.