DOD Budget Ploy Threatens Soldiers’ Recreation
While most Americans have the spirit of ‘giving’ this Thanksgiving, government officials have their hands out. They’re lobbying for money privately and publicly this holiday season as federal budget negotiations get under way. At the Pentagon, this lobbying takes a very peculiar turn. Each year, DOD officials hint that some of the most popular military personnel programs are in danger of being cut – even though cutting them wouldn’t make a dent in the defense budget. Because
A Tale of Two BRACs | Commentary
Base Realignment and Closure –—also known as BRAC — is the process through which the Department of Defense either closes bases or moves major functions to new locations. The closure of a local installation can cause upheaval in the surrounding community, and many in Congress have expressed firm opposition to the administration’s request to authorize a BRAC round in 2015. DOD, however, cannot afford to keep excess infrastructure as it reduces force structure. For example, the
Congress Could Try Some Pork in its Diet
Pork fat is delicious. But might it also be the grease that is needed to unlock dysfunctional Washington, D.C.? Former Rep. George Nethercutt is making that case, sort of. Nethercutt, the man who unseated Tom Foley in 1994, has written a defense of something that few support: congressional earmarks. Writing in last week’s Inlander, Nethercutt argued that earmarks – the supposed tool of cronyism and spendthrift government – are needed, within reason, to improve the toxic and b
Defense Industry Tells Congress: Sequestration is Costing Jobs and Endangering National Security
Defense industry officials are warning ongoing sequestration could cost jobs in the aerospace industry. (AL.com file photo) The defense industry has set its sights on the House/Senate budget committee in an effort to do away with the across-the-board cuts from sequestration. The Aerospace Industries Association delivered letters to members of the bicameral budget committee earlier this week urging them to include a sequester repeal as part of any funding agreement. One of tho
Congress Should Return to Responsible Earmark Policy
When two distinguished octogenarians, Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and former House Speaker Tom Foley (D-Wash.), passed away on October 18, 2013, it reminded us of a bygone era where dignity, seniority and orderly Congressional operations were largely standard. In 1995, when Congress changed to a Republican majority, it imposed term limits on committee chairmen. Then in 2010, Congress outlawed earmarks on appropriations bills. Congress had “democratized” itself, in response to p
