So, earlier today Jed Lewison covered the story of the defense spending cut trigger and how Leon Panetta uttered the expected words against it. I forget, is he Secretary of Defense or Secretary of the Military Industrial Complex...
Well, he's not the only one who spoke out about it today, and in the case of Jon Kyl I have to ask -- how does it feel, eh?
"Can you imagine anything more irresponsible than for the commander in chief of the military to promote, not just promote, but insist on the knowing destruction of the U.S. military as a means to threaten Congress?" Kyl asked in a speech on the Senate floor just before he voted for the bill.
Yeah, actually, how does the knowing destruction of the global economy as a means to threaten Democrats stack up? You know, the whole point of the debt-ceiling deal you were voting on, the debt ceiling that had previously been no issue of import, much less crisis material.
I guess Kyl is feeling a little sore after being hoist with his own petard. Now it's the military on the chopping block. The trigger is $500 billion in cuts to military spending (over a decade of course). $50 billion a year.
Someone remind me how big a chunk that is?
The fiscal 2012 request overall called for $719.4 billion in security spending, which includes the Pentagon.
Oh, is that all. What's that, about 7%? Back to you, Jon. We can trust you to put that cut into proper perspective, right?
Although he backed the bill, Kyl said it came close to violating the oath of office for lawmakers as well as the president's responsibilities as commander in chief. "We will need to work very hard to restore spending necessary for our national security and commit to reject the threat of Armageddon inserted into this bill by the White House."
Well, I hope that between now and Thanksgiving, Democrats make a point to use this. Remember how it felt when the GOP took the budget hostage. And the debt ceiling hostage. And our whole economy hostage. Remember, and put this defense spending trigger to use. Milk it for all it's worth.
I'm a skeptical sort, but it's almost enough to lend some credence to the concept of karma.