On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 1:05 PM, Robert Naiman <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 $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.
I have no doubt that you know much much more about this than Ezra. It does seem that you agree with Ezra that the only way this turns into a Pentagon cut over and above what Obama already told the Pentagon to find is if the trigger gets invoked, or if a Pentagon cuts are agreed to as part of a deal to avoid the trigger. > > 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 > -- 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
