When I read the headlines about large cuts in Defense spending suggested by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, I was shocked. For the last decade, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have presided over massive increases in military spending – each record-breaking budget more audacious than the rest.
Then, I looked at the details. I discovered that these military budget cuts aren’t really military budget cuts. They’re military budget shifts.
Secretary Gates himself admitted as much: “To be clear, the task before us is not to reduce the department’s top-line budget,” he said. “Rather, it is to significantly reduce its excess overhead costs and apply the savings to force structure and modernization.”
Gates did reveal that he would like to see a budget reduction. He does not hope for a reduction in the size of the military’s immense budget, though. Instead, he wants to see a slight reduction in the rate of the annual growth of the military budget.
There are no cuts – and even the military budget shifts that Secretary Gates suggests aren’t likely to survive in Congress. Corporate contractors worrying about their bottom line can breathe a sigh of relief. Military pork barrel will go on.
