Bruce Bartlett: Neocons Talk Deficit but Won't Budge on Defense Cuts

The Fiscal Times:

Establishment conservatives love to talk about the need to cut government spending, but they always seem to find an excuse whenever there is a serious effort to actually do it. Last year, for example, they opposed cutting Medicare as part of health care reform. Now they are banding together to stop cuts in defense spending, which is a fifth of the federal budget, even as they also insist that the deficit is our most critical problem.

This hypocrisy was on full display on Oct. 4, as American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, Heritage Foundation president Ed Feulner, and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol penned a joint op-ed for the right-wing Wall Street Journal editorial page on why the defense budget should be totally off limits to budget cutters.

Read the whole story: The Fiscal Times

Comments

[Geogravee]

12:33 PM on 10/20/2010

Beware the think tanks with noble names but evil intentions. Neocons never change as they live off their conservative agenda in support of more military spending and scare stories of terror all around even if this bankrupts the country many times over.

[Kevin Atlanta]

06:10 PM on 10/10/2010

Let's do a real favor for the Global population; ship Kristol and his Lizard Cheney Neo-Cons to Somalia where they can live within the joys of their Dubya and Wrecking Crew's legacy and move on in America, growing an America for our children's prosperity rather than lining this Kristol's pocket with all his lies exposed.

CONservatism is a disease; treatable with education and medication.
God loves the CONservative but hates the CON.

Dubya and the Wrecking Crew of war criminals and torturers CONned America from 1996 until 2006 and the ruins of this once great nation display the results of that fraud.

[MajorKong]

03:45 PM on 10/10/2010

Bill Kristol has yet to achieve even the accuracy level of a broken clock, which is at least right twice a day.

[dfranz]

03:32 PM on 10/10/2010

It's all so crazy.Deficits are bad, you can't touch the military and give a trillion dollar tax break to millionaires. Gee, that only leaves things they don't like anyway left to be cut. Imagine that. Crazy like foxes.

[Malbolge]

08:14 AM on 10/10/2010

Bartlett... Now he was a damn fine President. I always thought his name was Josiah though, not Bruce.

[RichardVinthagen]

05:37 AM on 10/10/2010

Anyone in debt is not free, that’s not only thru for individuals but also for nations. I do believe that the USA needs to both increase taxes and cut costs and one such cost is the military complex. The US spends more on its military then all other counties on earth combined.

[Ffranco]

04:17 AM on 10/10/2010

Given his distinguished war record, Kristol probably has a better understanding to defense issues than most common Americans.

[ChinaC]

02:37 AM on 10/10/2010

The federal government and our elected officals take an oath to protect and defend our nation.

We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, Provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

[time2impeach]

02:50 AM on 10/10/2010

I think you'll find that Liberals agree with that premise. What we take issue with is the manner in which that objective is pursued.

Military spending has crippled us. We have more than enough military power to defend ourselves, yet we cannot insure adequate health care for our own citizens.

[MajorKong]

03:43 PM on 10/10/2010

We went waaaaay past defending the nation decades ago.

[Eykis]

01:53 AM on 10/10/2010

Here is ANOTHER example of how the Rethuggery Obstructionist Party of Teabagging Fewls and their Neocon Masters are FAILING.....


Little BillyK cannot garner 500 comments in 36 hours.



Bye, Bye, NEOCON PIE.


Look at the hours between posts - guess nobody CARES what the Rethugs are promoting - people are waking up and realizing the TRUE HORROR these GREEDY PIGS have foisted upon America.

[agathacallie]

12:11 AM on 10/10/2010

Disproportionate "defense" spending is what caused the collapse of the USSR. Our country is heading down the same road. We already have overkill in our defense capabilities. It's irrational to continue this spending. Neocons want this not for the safety and freedom of Americans but to continue conflicts that release floods of delicious cash directly into their buddies' hungry maws.

[wafuu]

12:11 AM on 10/10/2010

What malice for Alice exists behind that smarmy, Cheshire grin that Bill Kristol always sports? He's one of the creepiest of all on the far right, with his bloodless, sexless, self-serving prattle.

[abercrombie]

11:24 PM on 10/09/2010

When these neocons put themselves in the actual
war theater is when I will even listen to anything they
have to say.

[Eykis]

01:55 AM on 10/10/2010

EXACTLY. They have NEVER SERVED and only care about how much MONEY they can suck from the Middle Class who are the ACTUAL players in their WAR GAMES.


Remember the movie War Games?

The final answer is on how to win?


DO NOT PLAY THE GAME.

[JamesJerico]

10:55 PM on 10/09/2010

Defense spending is not a bad thing when it's directed into areas like research and development and real national defense. Remember the DOD played a major role in the creation of the Internet and a number of technologies we take for granted. If anything we should increase spending on R&D while cutting spending on Middle East adventures and political posturing.

Unfortunately the neo-cons hold onto the idea that America should have a military presence in hundreds of countries and that we must force ourselves into bankrupcy to shape the Middle East into a form more suitable the right-wing Israeli politicans.

[SadButWiser]

10:50 PM on 10/09/2010

If there was one trend that no one or a group of people can change, it is the MIC control of the US Government. In one way, the US is no different from any Third World dictatorship. Except, that unlike the Third Word where one man rules, in the US, the MIC is an entity with so many secretive dealings and powerful people and organizations. While dictators can be removed, you cannot remove the MIC.

[nannews]

11:06 PM on 10/09/2010

That is true...and President Obama is faced with an unsolvable Gordian knot.

[mnkors]

09:50 PM on 10/09/2010

mamacat: "The neo-cons think it is fine and dandy to lie us into a war in Iraq where we lose thousands of soldiers' lives and spend trillions of dollars.."
Kristol (among other prominent Israel-firsters ) was the loud liar for the war. (He was also the major promoter of Palin, his other cynical "gift" to the nation).
Neither Kristol nor his children put ever their lives on line for the US.

[3 magi]

10:13 PM on 10/09/2010

good point.