The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) is arguably The US Military-Industrial Complex, and it is worried... really worried about sequestration and other budget games being played (largely by the GOP) and what it is doing to the military's ability to do its job. Now, I hear you saying "that's nothing new" (and it isn't), but I was interested to see how direct military leadership is being in calling out the current situation and policies as being supremely bone-headed and dangerous in the last issue of National Defense magazine. Behold! After the very small orange mushroom cloud, I'll point you at several selected articles that expose just how dire the Pentagon thinks the situation is.
We'll start off with Shelton: Sequestration Will Devastate Military Space, Cyber Programs wherein General Shelton, the commander of Air Force Space Command is quoted as saying "If we don't get budget flexibility very soon, we won't be able to sustain the operational capability in space and cyber" and that "By 2015, sequestration may break the Air Force's back." Furthermore, he points out a now commonly held concern that sequester is killing the industrial base, a problem discussed in more detail in the next story.
Next up is Analyst: Pentagon Should Move to Protect 'Core' Industries Before Budgets Collapse which raises red flags that several entire US industries critical to national defense are in danger of going bankrupt: "Precision weapons, nuclear forces, capabilities for combined-arms campaigns, naval platforms to access the world’s oceans, space and cyberspace skills, cryptology and combat training technologies." Also interesting however, is that this article (or rather, the underlying analysis) lays blame on Pentagon leadership for failing to have a "coherent, long-term strategy for sustaining the defense industrial base's core competencies." The implication is clearly that there is serious risk of wholesale collapse of the supporting technology and manufacturing base. On the R&D front, we see Lack of R&D Funding and Skilled Workers Threatens Air Force, Northrop CEO Warns which rings true to me personally, as US Government funding agencies are dramatically cutting research budgets,
Finally, lets revisit an article from the same journal (edit: was article) from nearly a year ago, Top Five Threats to National Security in the Coming Decade discusses a variety of likely threats, but I'd like to point out two of the five in particular:
First, Cyberwarfare: Imagine Stuxnet-level attack unleashed on US critical services... It should take you less than 5 minutes to come up with at least 10 services that could cause significant loss of life and/or damage to infrastructure given the sort of foothold that that one virus was able to attain. Sen Collins (R-Maine) is quoted as saying "In all the years that I have been working on homeland security issues, I can’t think of another area where the threat is greater, and we have done less." I'd say "thank your party members, Senator" but then I'd probably be kicked out of her office. P.S. if you couldn't come up with any "virus nightmare scenarios" a few sentences ago, check this article (which seems to have been posted from the future, oddly).
Second: Climate Change. in addition to the obvious fact that any significant climate change will cause worldwide political problems, the dramatic reduction of the Arctic ice sheet is very much a concern. The opening of potential year-round shipping lanes over Canada raises all sorts of security issues - even India and China are trying to gain admission to the Arctic Council to advocate for their related concerns. The again "The United States is woefully unprepared for the Challenge. The Coast Guard has a single operational icebreaker..." (emphasis mine). And of course, that half of Congress steadfastly refuses to believe in climate change (let alone warming) suggests that we've got some very difficult lessons ahead.
The bottom line is that the Republican anti-tax machine is, in fact, going full speed into destroying not only the stuff the claim to dislike, but most of the things they actually claim is critically important. No surprise to anyone here, but it seems that this is something every challenger should be prepared to pound the podium on.