Barney Frank, who already has talked about the need to raise taxes, spoke to the South Coast Standard Times, and “called for a 25 percent cut in military spending, saying the Pentagon has to start choosing from its many weapons programs…” That, of course, would be absolutely insane. Frank totally ignores the lesson of 9/11 and the so-called Clinton era peace dividend, the continued threat from Islamic terrorism, the prospect of a nuclear Iran, a resurgent Russia, and emerging China amid other dangers in the world. But what’s frightening is that he is not alone, and would likely have a sympathetic ear in Barack Obama, who I’ve noted before has a long-standing antipathy to military spending, dating back at leastto his failed Congressional race in 2000.
Obama will have to find some way to pay for all of the various economic stimulus measures the Democrats are cooking up, as well as his tax plans, and his proposed expansion of social programs. Taxing the rich won’t make up enough of the difference, and defense, it seems, will be a ripe target. See also, the video below, taken during the primary, in which Obama tells an anti-defense spending group about all of the weapons systems he plans to cut.
