Pentagon Told to Save Billions for Use in War

[unhappycamper]

Pentagon Told to Save Billions for Use in War
By THOM SHANKER
Published: June 3, 2010

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has ordered the military and the Pentagon’s civilian bureaucracy to find tens of billions of dollars in annual savings to pay for war-fighting operations, senior officials said Thursday.

His goal is $7 billion in spending cuts and efficiencies for 2012, growing to $37 billion annually by 2016.

Every modern defense secretary has declared war on Pentagon waste and redundancy. And there have been notable, but relatively narrow successes, in closing and consolidating military bases or in canceling a handful of weapons systems.

But if Mr. Gates’s sweeping plan is fully enacted, none of the armed services or Pentagon civilian agencies and directorates would be immune from the pain of annual cost-cutting, which would become institutionalized across the Defense Department.

The spending guidelines were delivered orally to senior military officers and civilian officials before Mr. Gates’s departure this week for an Asian security conference in Singapore, and the official signed guidance will be issued over coming days.



unhappycamper comment: These fuckers control over 50% of the discretionary budget. That mean that 50% of everything from roads, bridges, teacher's salaries, aid to education, grants to cities and towns, policeman and fireman salaries, food for the homeless, Social Security and Medicaid and most social programs is used to buy new toys and keep the occupations going.

One trillion dollars a year is a pretty hefty chunk of change.

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[Angry Dragon]

2. How about if we just stop the wars

and let the countries find their own way.

I bet a lot of money could be saved that way.

[Scuba]

6. Gee, where have I heard that... oh yeah, from this commie pinko...

'I believe that if we had and would keep our dirty, bloody, dollar soaked fingers out of the business of these (Third World) nations so full of depressed, exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own. And if unfortunately their revolution must be of the violent type because the `haves' refuse to share with the `have-nots' by any peaceful method, at least what they get will be their own, and not the American style, which they don’t want and above all don’t want crammed down their throats by Americans.'




Gen. David Shoup, United States Marine Commandant Medal of Honor recipient.

[Angry Dragon]

8. Thanks for the quote

[Obamanaut]

3. Closing the more than 700 military sites in the 30+ countries would

save a chunk of change.

Not being the policeman to the world would save another chunk.

[ShamelessHussy]

4. how about a bake sale?

[saigon68]

5. Good thing there's no Poverty in amerika

</sarcasm>

[Octafish]

7. Hey, BCCI Bob! Did you check under the couch cushions?

You know, the ones at the country club? There's got to be some serious change there.