Monday, April 06, 2009
Defense budget cuts?
So read the headlines:
Not just cuts. "Big" cuts.Gates to present big cuts for US defense budget
Really?
Obama has requested 533.7 billion dollars for the main defense budget for fiscal 2010, excluding most of the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That request marks an increase of four percent compared to fiscal 2009.That last part, the part that reveals those "big cuts" are actually a four percent increase? That's paragraph 16 of the article. Before the reader gets to that, here are some of the words encountered: "cuts...scale back spending...cutting or scaling back...slash...cutbacks...slashed." It is of course true that some particular programs are being cut, while others are being increased. But the defense budget itself? Not on your life. Well, unless you're in the military. Then it may well be your life.
