Defending Defense: Ten Questions on the Future of US Defense Spending Priorities for Secretary of Defense Nominee Leon Panetta Background
The Obama administration has requested that Congress provide $553 billion for the Defense Department’s base budget in FY 2012 — $13 billion less than what the administration had projected requesting a year earlier.
President Obama’s deficit reduction plan calls for $400 billion in cuts to national security spending over the next 12 years. This is in addition to the approximately $400 billion already cut by the administration during the previous two years.
The baseline defense budget is now 3.5% of America’s GDP, a figure well below the post-World War II average of 7.5%. If the Obama administration succeeds in its plans to cut defense further, that percentage will drop to 3% or lower — the lowest total in the entire post-World War II era.  Click to keep reading…
My comments: Lots of really important issues brought up. Â We definitely need to cut back on spending. Â I think defense could give up a little bit as well.