Senator James Inhofe - "President Obama is disarming America...Ravaged The Military" - DU Agrees?

[Median Democrat]

I know there is a segment of DU that tends to agree with any criticism of President Obama, so let me throw this one out, and see how many DUers jump on this bandwagon.

My take is that these criticisms of Obama's cuts, which only reduce the growth in military spending are going to be coordinated with Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney's claims that President Obama is less safe, to push for the same old growth in military spending. Worse, I can see the Left Behind crowd praying for an terrorist attack the way they prayed for a torrential rains during the DNC convention.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/04/07/20090407defense-box0407.html

/snip

Congressional reaction to defense plan

A group of senators including Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.; and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., fired off a letter to President Barack Obama saying proposed cuts in missile defense "could undermine our emerging missile-defense capabilities to protect the United States against a growing threat."

"I cannot believe what I heard today," Inhofe said. "President Obama is disarming America. Never before has a president so ravaged the military at a time of war."

Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, served notice that "the buck stops with Congress," while Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., issued a statement saying he would weigh the proposal of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates "in the context of current and future threats."

/snip

Here is the conservative LA Times' comments:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-defense7-2009apr07,0,6842364.story

/snip

President Obama released his $534-billion military budget proposal weeks ago, but Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates fleshed it out Monday by listing specific programs to be cut or expanded. The plan would increase spending by 4% over fiscal 2009, though judging from the reaction of congressional hawks, one would think the Pentagon were being gutted. Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) commented in a blog post from Afghanistan that "President Obama is disarming America" and betraying our troops abroad. The fear-mongering won't end there.

* * *
Gates and Obama hardly aim to disarm America, but there's no question that they intend to buy less ammo. Given that the United States spends nearly as much on defense as every other country on Earth combined, that's not a bad plan. In the late 1990s, defense spending was about 3% of the nation's gross domestic product; today that number is closer to 4.5%. Whether that has made us safer is anybody's guess, but there's no question that it has made us poorer. And if being the world's sole superpower isn't enough of a deterrent against foreign attack, it's unlikely that being the world's sole super-duper power will either.

/snip

[Cant trust em]

1. I hope this thread doesn't get flamed and off topic due to the first sentence.

Stay focused, people!


My take is that cutting funding for missile defense is not ravaging the military.

[hedgehog]

2. Must be cutting back on programs with contracts in Inhofe's district!

[old mark]

12. OK is the place where a series of ground vehicles are being

developed and would have been built. They will be cancelled because they have a history of serious design problems, cost overruns, etc. It is a bad project, cost lots of money with little hope for a successful outcome. Just read an article online about it.

mark

[spanone]

3. inhofe is a genuine thug turd

[OHdem10]

4. Tjhe Dems should be out there--in a louder voice than Inhoffe,

sanely explaining that a careful examination clearly indicates
that the Administration and Defense Dept are simply reordering
priorities. Yes, there are some cuts, but increases in other
areas. DO NOT LET THE GOP TRY TO PAINT DEMS AS WEAK ON DEFENSE
and trying to destroy the Military.

[Politicalboi]

5. This shit is going to go on until

They reinvestigate 9/11 and see who was really behind it. Dick Cheney crying about being less safe because of 9/11. Cheney was the mastermind behind 9/11. Get that out there and President Obama will no longer have to hear this shit, and neither will we.

[lisa58]

6. Inhofe is one of the worst Senators EVER!

[Hippo_Tron]

14. No need to, he's in the minority

And defense appropriations aren't something you can filibuster because you didn't get your precious pork project in the bill.

[bdamomma]

7. Gates said yesterday they are cutting back.

Let that stupid Inhofe take it up with Gates.

[Thrill]

8. Funny thing is McCain agrees with the cuts. Go figure

[Median Democrat]

11. NY Times Editorial - Still, Expect Fox News To Spread The "Disarming America" Meme

I am not sure about the NY Times pushing for expansion of certain weapon systems over others, but it does generally support the proposed budget reforms. Still, it is amazing the hyperbole being offered by the right wing. "Disarming America"? Does anyone have an iota of respect for the truth? Yet, Inofe probably faces no serious challenge for re-election despite the craziness he spouts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/opinion/08wed1.html?_r=1

/snip

The military needs rebuilding to recover from the strains of Iraq and Afghanistan, and it must restructure to meet today’s real-world challenges. Mr. Gates made a useful down payment toward that goal with more funds for intelligence and surveillance equipment (including more drones), special forces, experts to train foreign military units and for spending on combat ships that operate in shallow waters to support ground combat. Still, half the budget goes to traditional big battle warfare programs.

Even with much-needed plans to accelerate expansion of the Army and the Marines, Mr. Gates seems to have stayed within the budget figures announced last month: After adjusting for inflation, basic Pentagon spending will rise to $534 billion from $513 billion, with $130 billion more to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan.

After two years in which he focused on war-fighting and left the budget mostly to his then-deputy, Gordon England, Mr. Gates has taken charge of the process. We respect his stated determination to make decisions based on what’s good for the country rather than narrow political interests. Few documents are more political than budgets, however. Now it will be up to him and President Obama to stave off industry lobbyists and their Congressional allies seeking to protect cash cows and then push to do even more in the next budget.

/snip

[Political Heretic]

15. That won't last.

(my prediction)

[mkultra]

9. let me be the first Oklahoman to appologise for Inhofe

We are sorry.

[Milspec]

17. Me Too

[polichick]

10. Looks to me more like the President is "disarming" the rest of the world (so to speak).

[Hippo_Tron]

13. Hey Inhofe... The "emerging" missile defense system DOESN'T WORK

But hey this is the guy who thinks that we don't need to address global warming because God is cooling the earth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f1ciYsxP7E

[Political Heretic]

16. Obama/Gates doing a brave, much needed thing by streamlining defense

It's going to be one hell of a fight, seeing as how the MIC is represented in virtually every district of every state in America.

But we desperately need to return to a mission of "defense" rather than global imperialism, we need to retool our military defense for the modern situation, which means closing down horribly wasteful spending projects left over from the cold war and developing a smarter, more agile, more rapidly deployable military. It is not necessary for us to spend more than the rest of the world combined to "defend" ourselves.

We also need to restore oversight and regulatory accountability to the defense departments contracting process, as well as create a new era of transparency as to how taxpayer dollars are being spent on defense.

This is going to be difficult, close to impossible to actually do - but I'm more than ready for the fight and pleased that the Odama administration is doing it.

[depakid]

18. Rational folks tend to regard what Inhofe and his ilk say

about like how we do with certain sorts of relatives that sit around our dinner tables during holidays.