Cheney's Defense Cuts

[kerryin2004]

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.as...iJRJ8OVF&b=6228



No Defense for Cheney

Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to deliver a speech in Missouri today attacking his political opponents for supposedly trying to cut defense spending in the 1980s and early 1990s. Yet, a look back at the record shows it was Cheney who repeatedly tried to cut defense spending at this time, even publicly attacking a president of his own party. During the height of Cold War tensions, it was Cheney who told the Washington Post on 12/16/84 that if President Reagan, "doesn't really cut defense, he becomes the No. 1 special pleader in town." Cheney said "the president has to reach out and take a whack at everything to be credible" and said that absent a raid of Social Security or a tax increase, "you've got to hit defense." Six years later, on 2/1/90, it was Cheney who proudly told Congress "since I became Secretary, we've been through a fairly major process of reducing the defense budget." He bragged that during the first year of his tenure, he "cut almost $65 billion out of the five-year defense program" and that subsequent proposals would "take another $167 billion out." He trumpeted the fact that "we're recommending base closures," "we're talking about force structure cuts" and "we've got a military construction freeze." And as the 8/4/91 NY Times noted, Cheney tried "to reduce active-duty troop strength" from 2.2 million to 1.6 million while making "deep cuts in the Reserves and National Guard" – a move that is now, in part, forcing the military to extend tours of duty and increase the combat burden on reservists. See an analysis of defense spending by American Progress's Larry Korb.


Read the rest of the article, it only gets better!

[Democat]

1. Here is another link from Kerry's blog

http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/cheney_record/index.html

Scroll down a ways.

[kerryin2004]

2. Nice

Now if only the television press will say something about it.

[gulliver]

3. Cheney hurt St. Louis and McDonnell Douglas. Cut A-12.

I remember it well. Thousands of people were laid off in St. Louis when Cheney cut the A-12 program. It amazes me that anyone in Missouri would vote for him. Missourians can be really dumb. They just don't remember. Lucky Dick.