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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: KyrosL who wrote (16366)11/16/2003 5:20:19 PM
From: unclewest  Read Replies (1) of 793622
 
the foolish Clinton/Gore cuts in our armed forces

>>>What is even more tragic is that the Bush administration and the Republican controlled Congress are making no effort to reverse those cuts.<<<

Huh???

Clinton/Gore's military budget for 2000 was $293 billion.
The 2001 military budget (inherited by GWB) was proposed by Clinton at just over $300 billion and passed before Clinton/Gore left office .

The first GWB proposed military budget was 2002 at $343 billion.
2003 was $396 billion.
2004 is $400 billion plus the $87 billion passed earlier this month.

These dramatic increases are still not sufficient to substantially increase strength. Much of the funding is for increases in current operations and weapons replacements.

One of the sadder and less known complications caused by Clinton/Gore is that they never allocated sufficient funds to replace worn out equipment and facilities. DOD depreciation was always tens of billion dollars higher than replacement funding in Clinton DOD budgets. When you read about some of our troops not having the best or the latest gear, you now know why. Both of these issues are being addressed in demanding fashion today.

Still I agree with your basic premise...we do need to continually evaluate increasing strength. The Reserve/National Guard card is the play right now. Recruiting is going OK. But if a dramatic increase in troop strength is required, the draft is already fully planned out and can be quickly reinstated.

In the event of a true emergency requiring immediate decisive military action -- a large response if you will --we do have some seldom used toys that can be deployed.
uw
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