Panetta Warns Of 'Disaster' From Automatic Defense Cuts, With Job Losses, Hit To Health Care

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

By DONNA CASSATA | Associated Press | 39 minutes ago in

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that automatic, across-the-board defense cuts would be a disaster, with widespread jobs losses and problems for the Pentagon as it tries to pay for health care for military personnel.

The Pentagon chief and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, painted a bleak picture of the military if Congress fails to come up with a budget plan that stops the cuts to defense and domestic programs that kick in Jan. 2. They appealed to Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee to come up with a solution.

Dempsey said the billions for warfighters in Afghanistan would be subject to the cuts. To avoid that drastic step, the Pentagon would look to offset the cuts with reductions in other accounts, he said. Defense comptroller Robert Hale said the president could exempt military personnel from the cuts, but the reductions would affect the department's ability to pay for health care.

Panetta said the automatic cuts "was designed as a meat axe, it was designed as a disaster. ... It would be a disaster."

Read more: http://www.newser.com/article/d9vcbh100/panetta-warns-of-disaster-from-automatic-defense-cuts-with-job-losses-hit-to-health-care.html

[The Magistrate]

1. Christ, But I Am Tired Of This Crap, Sir

The Defense Department can do without fifty billions a year without difficulty, let alone without the sky falling.

[villager]

2. Panetta and his business-as-usual-whining is pretty disgusting

...and shows how far we really have to go to actually "change" things...

[pscot]

7. Well, the President could just tell him to STFU.

Panetta at the War Department is yet another inexplicable appointment.

[latebloomer]

3. So, even if you try to cut the defense budget

the money will come out of healthcare for the troops.

How about stopping the wars instead?

[leftyohiolib]

4. well how did the pentagon ever survive the years before their budget got so bloated

[bluestateguy]

5. The defense contractors have had a very good 11 years

And were here to tell them now that the party is over.

[Poll_Blind]

6. War pig wants more food to make more war. nt

PB

[Swede Atlanta]

8. Panetta has never been a progressive.......

I fully believe we could cut the Pentagon's budget by 70% and still be able to protect the "homeland" with no problem. We might not be able to engage in adventurous wars abroad, engage in nation building or maintain an overseas empire. We couldn't keep all the military industrial complex churning. There would be massive layoffs from those companies as we cancel all new weapons programs. Those companies should turn their manufacturing capability to making something useful that isn't intended to kill and maim people.

We could cut 70% and still provide health care and benefits for our men and women in uniform. We would need to slowly draw down the size of the standing military.

But Panetta means he will not cut a single penny from any weapons programs or the global domination chessboard he plays with. He will take all the cuts from the men and women in uniform and their families. He is a Republican, plain and simple.

[Egalitarian Thug]

13. And cutting that obscene budget would do more to make us safer than any amount of slaughter.

Personally, I advocate for General Butler's plan for effective national defense.

[24601]

25. If anyone believes SECDEF Panette is not speaking for President Obama, then they do not understand

the relationship at all.

If this was not the President's position, SECDEF would not say it.

[msongs]

9. if we had MEDICARE FOR ALL health costs would not be an issue Mr. Panetta, you corporate ho nt

[DallasNE]

10. My Question To Panetta

How so? Just saying something doesn't make it so.

Many of these reductions in the increase in Pentagon spending are for the anticipated withdrawal from Afghanistan on a set schedule. The "drastic step" would be to alter the withdrawal schedule. Panetta is sounding just like John McCain, plus madmouthing the boss like this may not go over too well. In fact, I would take him behind the woodshed this afternoon.

[w4rma]

11. Do. Not. Care. The military needs to be cut as much as possible and that money needs to be used

*elsewhere*.

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. This asshole was another of the many WTF are you thinking Mr. President moments. n/t

[woo me with science]

14. We all know exactly what they will end up doing.

There will be theater along the way, but the war machine will be fed.

Occupy.

[awoke_in_2003]

15. Do we really need to proceed...

with the Ford class aircraft carriers?

[Cherchez la Femme]

16. Of COURSE he'd say that

being Defense Secretary & all!

Henny Penny, the sky is falling! Disaster! Disaster!1!!eleven Danger Will Robinson!1!!1!!!eleventyone!1gaspforbreath

Snark over, is there any truly legitimate basis for him saying that?

[Dont call me Shirley]

17. Defense needs some massive belt tightening, like around around 3 trillion tons!

[coalition_unwilling]

18. Panetta is such a discredited tool - n/t

[Baclava]

19. hardware over humans

Navy Names Five New Ships

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Feb. 15 the next five Navy ships; three Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS John Finn, USS Ralph Johnson, and USS Rafael Peralta, and two littoral combat ships (LCS), USS Sioux City and USS Omaha.

[Zorro]

20. Hundreds of thousands of people will be immediately jobless or placed on furlough

and it isn't just those directly employed by defense contractors.

Taking a meat cleaver to whack $50B from next year's DoD budget will mean a lot of current programs will be immediately terminated, with all the work and products in development will have just been wasted. And restart costs of those programs will increase final program costs, if the funds are restored.

Panetta's warning is quite serious. Sequestration will be a disaster.

[Earth_First]

23. Can we whack the domestic drone surveillance program?

Or the stockpiling of F22 parts? Or the trillion dollar missle defense shield?

There are plenty of ways to cut costs in the military/defense that does not increase unemployment...

It's just much less lucrative to *them*

[sad sally]

24. Don't you fret...neither the President nor congress will cut one red penny from any

"poor old defense program." Hell, before that happens every senior, disabled and hungry person will be kicked to the street so all those thousands of DoD employees and MIC employees keep their jobs - those are the only really important jobs in this country, and most every other federal program and those who use them are just leeches. Defense rules!

[GeorgeGist]

21. Leon',s just showing off.

He can 'fear, fear, fear' as well as any rightwinger.

[HooptieWagon]

22. If Leon is unable to make cuts...

I'Ll be glad to make them for him. Lets see... end a couple wars and bring the troops home, close a few overseas bases, cancel DoD propaganda program, cancel a few bloated weapons projects, force several generals to retire, eliminate private contractors. There! Ive just cut Defense budget by 20%!