Defense contractors brace for life without supplemental bills

[The Straight Story]

Defense contractors brace for life without supplemental bills
By Katherine McIntire Peters [e-mail] August 18, 2009

You'd never know from the congressional debate over the Obama administration's fiscal 2010 budget request for the Defense Department that the White House actually wants to increase its budget by about 4 percent, to $533.8 billion. That's because in the convoluted world of defense spending, the Pentagon's budget in recent years has shown little resemblance to what the department actually spends. The White House wants to change that, and defense contractors are bracing for the fallout.

Since 2001, when U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan, Congress has authorized 17 funding bills totaling $882 billion on top of Defense's annual appropriation, according to the Office of Management and Budget. These supplemental bills have funded the costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they've also been padded with money for priorities not related to the wars, such as the F-22 fighter jet, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., which has never been used on the battlefield. Going forward, the White House says it will fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the regular appropriations process.

So the budget increase administration officials have touted actually portends a significant decrease in defense spending, particularly on some big-ticket weapons programs. Among those the administration is seeking to cancel is the Transformational Satellite Communications System, shared by Lockheed and Boeing Co., which has been valued at anywhere from $14 billion to $25 billion through 2016. Lockheed also would be hit with the cancellation of the presidential helicopter program, whose costs have doubled during the last three years to more than $11 billion.

Cuts in missile defense programs, including Boeing's airborne laser prototype aircraft and Lockheed's Multiple Kill Vehicle, also will hit the two defense behemoths. Likewise, major ship programs, affecting Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Dynamics Corp., would be significantly restructured, along with the Army's central modernization program known as Future Combat Systems, which is managed by Boeing and SAIC.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=43429&sid=60

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Increase the fucking budget?

CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT - USE THE MONEY TO FUND A SINGLE PAYER NATIONAL HEALTH CARE PLAN!

See how it goes. The DoD needs to be renamed the Department of War, and give them a $10 million budget and figure how to do it with a stick and stones.

[DCKit]

2. Sticks and stones... ahhh, the BushCo* years: "UnAmerican", "UnPatriotic"....

"Soft on Terra", "Yer either with U.S., or agin U.S.".

Finally, a method of warfare the Chickenhawks are qualified to lecture on.

[ThomCat]

4. I agree, the defense budget should be gutted

and the Pentagon should be flooded with an army of auditors with high security clearances to track down all the missing money and fraud.

But Obama has Never said he would cut the Defense budget as far as I know. He's a coward in this regard. He will pander the people who think that we need to spend more, more, more on an even more bloated war machine. :(

[FrenchieCat]

5. read Glenn Greenwald's article

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/03/kagan /

[TexasObserver]

3. recommend

[dysfunctional press]

6. the military-industrial complex is going to go all out for repugs in 2010 elections...

our defense budget is offensive.