Romney's hollow argument on Pentagon cuts - Politico

No other institution is as respected or revered as the U.S. military, the author says. | AP Photo

By REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS | 10/25/12 4:41 AM EDT

Governor Romney asserted once again in Monday night's debate that President Obama seeks to hollow out the military. This assertion leaves me wondering whether Governor Romney (in near Sarah Palin-like fashion) lives in an alternate universe.

The one issue on which Republicans and Democrats find common ground is strong support for the military. President Obama has made unprecedented assistance to military families and veterans a cornerstone of his administration. He raised military pay levels; brought forces home from Iraq; shortened deployment periods; and raised the level of healthcare provided to our men and women in uniform. In nearly every speech President Obama praises the military and the sacrifices they make.

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Congress equally reveres the military, protecting it year after year from cuts and increasing its budget at a pace that simply boggles the mind. Even arguments about annual military "cuts" are not really about cuts, but rather about the pace of the Pentagon's growth compared to previous years. There is no question that sequestration would hurt the Pentagon budget, but it was intended as a doomsday device precisely because no one believed Congress and the president would allow the military to sustain such cuts.

Bottom line: The military gets more money, more respect, more bipartisan adulation from America's leaders, than any other institution in the United States.

So what exactly is Governor Romney's beef? He claims that President Obama intends to cut more than one trillion dollars from the military budget. He points to a quote from former Defense Secretary Gates that such cuts would be "devastating" and wants to guarantee military spending at four percent of GDP. But let's check the facts: half of that "trillion" are caps in 10-year projected growth rates in the defense budget that Republicans and Democrats (and Pentagon leadership) agreed to in the Budget Control Act. The proposed budget does not "cut" defense, but instead just lowers the rate of growth to keep up with inflation The other $500 billion are cuts from the sequester, which the Republicans supported in the Budget Control Act

President Obama established a balanced strategy to guide military spending. It would be useful to have the debate on that strategy, rather than on reflexive doctrine.

Rep. Gregory Meeks is a Democrat from New York.

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