In the Stupid Department: Palin makes exception for military spending

[unhappycamper]

Palin makes exception for military spending
Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sarah Palin is waging a battle inside the "tea party" movement to exempt defense spending from the group's small-government, anti-deficit fervor.

There's growing concern among Republicans -- and especially among the pro-defense neoconservative wing of the party -- that national security spending, which is under a level of scrutiny and pressure not seen since the end of the Cold War, could fall victim to the tea party's anti-establishment, anti-spending agenda. The former Alaska governor, as the unofficial leader of the movement and its most prominent celebrity, is moving to carve out such funding from any drives to cut overall government expenditures.

"In the conservative ranks and within the party, she's really quite a crucial piece in this puzzle," said Tom Donnelly, a defense fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. "She's got both political and tea-party/small-government bona fides, but she also has a lot of credibility in advocating for military strength."

Palin's drive to lead the charge against defense cuts was on display in a June 27 speech at "Freedom Fest," a conservative gathering in Norfolk where she sent a clear message to Republicans that deficit reduction can't come at the military's expense.

"Something has to be done urgently to stop the out-of-control Obama-Reid-Pelosi spending machine, and no government agency should be immune from budget scrutiny," she said. "We must make sure, however, that we do nothing to undermine the effectiveness of our military. If we lose wars, if we lose the ability to deter adversaries, if we lose the ability to provide security for ourselves and for our allies, we risk losing all that makes America great. That is a price we cannot afford to pay."



unhappycamper comment: You just gotta love stupid.