Sunday, February 24, 2013

U.S. Defense Spending Will Continue To Grow If Sequestration Happens

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, taken from an airplane in January 2008. David B. Gleason

How Defense Spending Will Grow Under Sequester Cuts -- Byron York, Washington Examiner

The major objection most Republicans have to the coming sequestration budget cuts is that the cuts will fall disproportionately on the Department of Defense. That’s true; defense spending is about one-fifth of the federal budget but will take about half of the sequester cuts.

But even for the Pentagon, the cuts are only to the rate of growth for the defense budget in coming years. They are not actual cuts that make spending decline. In a February publication, “The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023,” the Congressional Budget Office (summary here, full report here) outlines the increases in defense spending that will happen even with the various spending caps and sequestration cuts that are currently law. Table 1-5 (Outlays) on page 30 outlines projected defense spending in the coming decade. For 2014, the figure is $593 billion. For 2015, it is $597 billion. For 2016, $611 billion. For 2017, $619 billion. For 2018, $628 billion. For 2019, $648 billion. For 2020, $663 billion. For 2021, $679 billion. For 2022, $702 billion. And for 2023, $714 billion.

Read more ....

My Comment: So why all the uproar, panic, doomsday scenarios from the Pentagon. Makes you wonder. As to what's my take .... go here.

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