Monday, November 8, 2024

The GOP and the Defense Budget

I've been writing and talking recently about my sense that a GOP House will move to cut the defense budget, in order to spur even deeper domestic and entitlement cuts.  Such talk hasn't gained much traction, as there seems to be a sense that the Republican Caucus is somehow reflexively pro-bigger defense budgets.

The fly in that ointment is the Tea Party, and while I've yet to make a full assessment of their likely impact on matters political, I don't find them to be particularly "big defense budget" oriented.  Linking to a story on Rand Paul is always likely to bring out passion from both sides, but I do so merely to illustrate a force that will have to be reckoned with in the coming legislative season.  I stand by my prediction.  We will see a REAL decline in defense spending, and we will see it REAL soon.

As always, my concern isn't that we cut the budget--it is that we are likely to cut it without recourse to strategy.

Bryan McGrath

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