Three Republican senators will visit Fayetteville Monday to decry looming defense cuts that are scheduled to take place under budget sequestration next year.
Senators John McCain of Arizona, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of new Hampshire will launch a series of “Preserving America's Strength” town hall meetings with a meeting at Fayetteville Technical Community college.
The town hall meetings are scheduled to be held in key primary states – Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and New Hampshire.
President Barack Obama this week claimed congressional Republicans were willing to slash defense spending to balance the federal budget while extending tax cuts to the country's highest earners.
“People in Congress ought to be able to come together and agree on a plan, a balanced approach that reduces the deficit and keeps our military strong,” Obama told the Veterans of Foreign War in Reno.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized Obama for not being more active in the discussions, saying the defense cuts will “severely shrink our force structure, and impair our ability to meet and deter threats.''
Comments
Sequestration only happens if tax cuts for wealthy don't renew
July 26, 2012 - 8:22am — MtnManIf everyone keeps their tax cuts on income up to $250,000-- which includes 97% of small business owners-- but the extra 4% is restored to reach Clinton era tax rates on income above 250K, then a bipartisan deal would have already have been reached to avoid sequestration.
The deficit is so serious, but the highest priority that Republicans have is protecting tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans? They did fine during the 90s when the rest of us did pretty well also.
After cuts, spending would still be higher than 2006
July 26, 2012 - 7:57am — MtnManGraham's hair on fire for no real reason?
"Adjusting for the CBO’s predictions for inflation, sequestration would allow the military budget to remain almost flat. The process would leave the 2021 Pentagon with purchasing power equivalent to what it had in 2006, leaving out the wars. That would be a bigger budget in real terms than what the U.S. spent on the military at the height of the Cold War."
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/cutting-through-rhetoric-defense-sequestration