Report
5 October 2010
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal op-ed by leaders of the top three conservative think tanks attempts to reimpose conservative orthodoxy on an issue - defense spending - that has sharply divided conservatives in recent months. Against the backdrop of a slowly recovering economy and a globalizing world, thoughtful military leaders - and some political leaders from both parties - are stressing that our military might flows from our economic power, not the other way around. Secretary Gates has frequently invoked the words of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who said that the United States "could only be as militarily strong as it was economically dynamic and fiscally sound." He has called on the military to align its spending with the actual challenges we face, and to make a new, serious push against waste, fraud and inefficiency.
With a commitment to use all elements of our power, not just our armed forces, those ought to be principles for bipartisan agreement. Instead, the conservative movement's Cold War-era leaders are mounting a rearguard action that would actually increase defense spending and make its current, historically high levels permanent - regardless of the challenges we face or the state of our economy. One conservative strategist called this intra-party debate "a massive, almost historic battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party." It also represents a test of seriousness for anyone seeking responsibility for America's security and economic health at this troubled time.
Report
10 May 2010
Common sense and discipline are the historic values to which American Presidents have aspired when providing for the common defense. In an address at the Eisenhower Library in Kansas, Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke about the urgent need to return to those qualities, after years in which Pentagon spending spiraled out of control. Gates's speech comes against the backdrop of concern with the state of the American economy, mounting calls from Congress and budget experts for fiscal discipline, and recognition from the Obama administration and outside experts of the need to rebalance the contributions of defense, diplomacy and development to American national security.
Press Release
21 July 2009
Today, General Paul Eaton (Ret.), who this week joined the National Security Network as a Senior Adviser, reacted to the Senate removing nearly $2 billion in funding to build seven new F-22 Raptors from the Defense Authorization legislation:
"In stripping $1.75 billion in funds to build seven more F-22 Raptors from the Defense Authorization bill, the Senate has brought our military spending one step closer to matching America's military priorities for the 21st century."
Report
10 June 2009
13 former Generals and Admirals assert that "for too long our military's budget priorities have been beset by an out of date mentality"
Press Release
Washington, D.C. 10 June 2009
Report
26 February 2009
The Obama administration's budget represents a return to responsible budgeting. The signal that the Administration plans to move away from supplemental requests and its willingness to cut items unrelated to war spending represents a return to responsible budgeting.
Report
3 February 2009
Two weeks into the Obama Administration, instead of a serious policy debate over defense spending and priorities, conservatives have taken an Obama budget request for an 8 percent increase, in line with Bush Administration recommendations, and turned it into a “cut.” In today’s Washington Post, Robert Kagan – a prominent neoconservative – provides a perfect snapshot of the vacuous nature of conservative thinking on defense policy.
Press Release
Washington, D.C. 11 December 2008
