Did the Pentagon Cry Wolf Over Sequestration? -- James Rosen, McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — A funny thing happened on the way to a predicted disaster: The Pentagon is learning to live with the automatic budget cuts its leaders had warned would threaten national security if they took effect.
The change from near-hysteria to sober assessment starts at the top with new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a former maverick Republican senator from Nebraska who’s long pushed for serious restructuring of military spending. He replaced Leon Panetta in February.
Defense analysts say the forced spending reductions – called a sequester on Capitol Hill – and the arrival of a new Pentagon chief are compelling military leaders to focus on core national security needs and to operate more efficiently after the expenditure of what will reach $5 trillion on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and a near doubling of the overall defense budget from 2001 to 2011.
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My Comment: Being one who has worked for a large government institution (I worked for ICAO, the UN's aviation organization from 1989 to 1994) .... monkeying around with budgets will cause chaos in planning and implementation. And right now .... let's face it .... U.S. budgets are in chaos, and will continue to be so until spending and deficits are controlled.
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