{"id":1356,"date":"2013-04-15T11:11:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T17:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2013-04-15T11:13:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-15T17:13:00","slug":"report-the-pentagon-must-cut-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/report-the-pentagon-must-cut-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: The Pentagon Must Cut Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ben Armbruster, Think Progress
\nclick here for original article<\/a><\/p>\n

President Obama\u2019s Pentagon budget proposal exceed\u2019s last year\u2019s request by $1 billion and CAP defense budget experts Lawrence Korb, Alex Rothman and Max Hoffman think the White House can do better. \u201cThis is a missed opportunity to realign our national security priorities,\u201d\u00a0they write in a new brief<\/a>, adding, \u201cUnnecessary defense spending does not make us safer; it diverts resources away from other critical investments here at home that create jobs and rebuild our infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report notes that in 2011, the United States spent more on its military than the next 13 biggest spenders combined (a majority of those nations are U.S. allies) and note that Obama\u2019s defense budget proposal maintains an \u201cunwillingness to return military spending to prewar levels or historical norms in real terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors agree with the Obama administration that sequestration is not the best way to reduce military spending, and note that winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan \u2014 an era of unprecedented levels of defense spending \u2014 provide an opportunity to bring down U.S. military spending, as their graphic illustrates:<\/p>\n

\"DefenseBudgetColumn_fig21-21<\/a><\/p>\n

CAP released a report last year\u00a0outlining<\/a>\u00a0some spending reductions that are not only politically feasible but also maintain American national security and military dominance:<\/p>\n

\n