The cuts *so far* are about what the Pentagon was already starting to prepare for as a result of Obama's directive. The cuts that would come as a result of the automatic trigger, or if something like that is included in the Gang of Twelve agreement, are a different story.
A trillion dollar cut over 10 years would be a 15% reduction in Pentagon spending compared to current plans. If the trigger happened, it would be $884 billion, about what the Gang of Six agreed. A $350 billion cut over 10 years - which the White House says was agreed to in the first round (extrapolating from the first round), and which is roughly equivalent to the $400 billion in cuts over 12 years that the Administration already directed the Pentagon to prepare, would roughly hold the Pentagon at 2% inflation a year and would be a 7% cut from currently projected spending. Ezra knows less about this than I do. On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 2:18 PM, Gar Lipow <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Robert Naiman > <[email protected]> wrote: >> The thing is, reality just turned a corner. When forced to choose >> between raising taxes and cutting the military budget, Republicans in >> Congress chose to cut the military budget. It is likely that if >> Republicans in Congress are forced to confront this choice again - and >> it is likely that they will be so confronted - they will choose again >> to cut military spending, rather than raise taxes. > > > Not really. According to Ezra and number of mainstream commentators > the cuts were compared to no change in military spending. Whereas some > very modest reductions were already in future pentagon plans. And > these cuts were actually smaller than what the Pentagon planned. So > in truth the "cut" was a modest INCREASE for the Pentagon compare to > their existing plans. > > Facebook: Gar Lipow Twitter: GarLipow > Grist Blog: http://www.grist.org/member/1598 > Static page: http://www.nohairshirts.com > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
