The Patriot Post® · Politicians Endanger Military Readiness

Although providing for the common defense is a task explicitly assigned to the federal government by the Constitution, the Department of Defense continues to suffer from the Obama regime’s inability to connect ends, ways and means and implement a coherent national security strategy. In particular, our service men and women and veterans have become a favorite bill-payer for Democrats’ other, unconstitutional priorities. Take for example Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) stating that maintaining various income redistribution schemes is more important to him than cost-of-living increases for veterans. That’s why he isn’t keen on Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s (R-NH) effort to offset $6 billion for veterans by preventing illegal aliens from claiming a child tax credit.

Compounding the top line cuts, the White House and Congress ignore the Pentagon’s requests and place scoring political points ahead of operational requirements, particularly when it comes to weapons procurement. From buying tanks the Army says it doesn’t need to keeping planes the Air Force says it can’t afford, politicians’ pursuit of self interest over national interest puts strategic priorities, and ultimately our national security, at risk.

Although the demand for aircraft carriers has rarely been stronger, the politicians’ re-election driven budget decisions will preclude maintaining the number recommended by most strategic analysts. As then-acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning noted, “This will entail a budget with cuts that none of us likes and each of these cuts will have a constituency both in [the Pentagon] and on Capitol Hill. If something’s restored to the budget we present to the Hill, something else will have to go.” Given the way Barack Obama flaunts the Constitution on domestic issues, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that he ignores the Heritage Foundations’ warning that he “should remember his constitutional responsibility as commander-in-chief.”