Source:The Hill– U.S. Representative Buck McKeon (Republican, California) Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

“The House Armed Services Committee planted the first flag in the 2012 defense budget debate last week, but Pentagon observers say there is little chance any other military spending bill will approach the size of its plan.

The panel approved a 2012 defense authorization bill with a baseline spending level of $553 billion early Thursday morning, matching the Obama administration’s request.”

From The Hill

With all the talk about fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction and the need to get our fiscal house in order, the House Armed Services Committee passed a whopping 700B$ Defense Authorization Bill early last Thursday Morning.

The United States has borrowed 3T$ the last ten years to fund our military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. All of that money being put on our National Debt Card. 25% of our national debt that we have to pay back to our foreign lenders: China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, have to be payed back.

The question is how we pay or debt back: on our terms or our foreign lenders? And does IMF (International Monetary Fund) come to Washington to take over our Federal budget, like they have done with Greece.

One of the worst things about this House vote, was that it was overwhelmingly bipartisan. Both Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly voted for it. Very few if members from either caucus voted against it.

This bill is completely unrealistic: you can’t make a credible argument that in a budget of 700B$, that represents about 1-5 of the total Federal budget, that there isn’t any waste in it, that every dime we spend on defense has to be spent, that with all the talk about deficit reduction, we can’t find overall savings and cuts in defense.

Shared sacrifice is just that: that everyone including defense sacrifices and contributes for the greater good to get our fiscal house in order, so we are no longer borrowing from other countries just to meet our obligations. Defense, Medicare and Social Security together represent over 60% of the Federal budget. They simply have to be on the table in deficit reduction. Not to make those programs weaker, if anything reform them and make them stronger. And make them more cost-effective, so we can finally start paying down our Federal deficit and debt.

We are starting to bring troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq. Let’s put that money to deficit reduction. Let’s stop defending developed nations around the world that can afford to defend themselves. And bring those troops home from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea and put that money to deficit reduction. Shared sacrifice means everyone contributes for the greater good.