The Maddow Blog - Paul Ryan's unbridled chutzpah on defense spending
"We don't think the generals are giving us their true advice," Ryan said during a forum on the budget sponsored by the National Journal. "We don't think the generals believe their budget is really the right budget." [...]
He went on to say that while there were certainly inefficiencies that could be reduced in the Pentagon's budget, fighting wars in the Middle East and a "dangerous world" necessitated keeping defense spending level.
...First, Ryan is ostensibly someone who's eager to slash every possible public investment. Indeed, he believes spending has to be brutally cut to the bone to prevent some kind of looming "debt crisis," And yet, given the chance to cut nearly a half-trillion in spending over the next decade, the right-wing Wisconsinite has suddenly discovered he disapproves of budget cuts after all. (Ryan wants to
increase defense spending, even while cutting everything else.) If the cuts don't hurt working families, he's apparently not interested.
Second, let's not forget that the Pentagon
wants these budget cuts. It's not as if there's a dispute between the White House and the brass, and Ryan is siding with the latter. Instead, Ryan is looking for budget cuts; the Pentagon is recommending some; and the Budget Committee chairman prefers to ignore the recommendations.
Third, notice that Ryan is effectively accusing U.S. military leaders of lying to Congress about the resources necessary to keep the nation safe. I wonder what the reaction would be if a House Democrat did that.
And finally, there's the biggest, most jaw-dropping angle of them all: Paul Ryan, who has never served in the military a day in his life, believes
he knows better than
the U.S. military leadership what funding levels are needed to "keep people safe."
military expert Paul Ryan he just knows
