I don't know if it would amount to 25%, but you could cut a huge chunk out of the defense budget by just eliminating graft and corruption in procurement. Time and material contracts, for instance, are a huge target for cheating the gov't. The number of T&M contracts has increased 10 fold over the past decade and they need to be reigned in.
Getting our butts out of Iraq would save almost 20% of the defense budget all by itself.
Obama has a record of voting for defense appropriations and is pushing for better benefits for veterans, so he and Barney don't quite agree on this issue.
Obama would likely cut the defense budget but not by very much. Hewould bring the vast majority of US troops home from Iraq very soon. The US military, especially the Army and USMC,need time torebuild and train for the next crisis.Army and USMC troops are worn out. Their equipment is worn out or in drastic need of
rebuild/repair.
The 10 billion per month spent in Iraq is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the true cost of that mis-adventure. Over the next 50 to 60 years itwill cost 2-3trillion dollars for the proper medical care of those who are injured and disabled by the Iraq war.
Falcon is right, when we do leave Iraq, the equipment will stay behind. The best we could do is scrape the big stuff to recycle the usable materials. Every thing over there is worn out & needs replaced. Thats gonna cost us some big bucks.[:-]
Barney Frank...
