Panetta orders Pentagon to plan for deep cuts

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Well if congress can't come up with some spending cuts defense and apparently have been -- knowledge -- pentagon to get ready to make to cuts themselves and that is what worries Byron York.

Not if to vent spending should be cut but exactly how sirens -- -- you explain.

Thank you -- how is the big thing that is the issue now is these so called should sequestration cuts which we're supposed to go into effect.

First of the year congress put off for a couple months.

They cut about one point two trillion dollars in government spending about half of that 600 billion dollars for.

Defense had to grossly disproportional amount for defense but there it is.

The problem with a wrist and is again overtime over ten years the problem whether it is a lot of people say is that.

They're across the board cuts they don't distinguish between good programs and bad programs between hardware and people.

Nothing like that it's just an -- across the board cut.

And what you've seen -- a lot of Republicans who were justly opposed to that kind of cutting.

Essentially opposing all pentagon cutting in and what I was saying in this piece today.

Is that just because the sequestration cuts are bad doesn't mean that the defense budget to sacrosanct it really can be cut by a significant amount.

And and it would help or vote in the make the argument we're open to cutting spending for things we -- dear you.

Democrats and governor -- -- for things you'll hear on.

But that doesn't seem to be resonating an atmosphere where there's no -- and -- period.

Now you're you're right but there are some Republicans like that Tom Coburn who's the Senate's leading.

Budget -- who talk about this and basically they say.

You know back in 2007.

The height of the Iraq War that the troop surge was going on some very expensive proposition.

The base pentagon budget was 431 billion dollars.

And that did not count of the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but the -- was 431 billion dollars.

Today the bases 550 billion dollars and people are saying.

Why should the -- spending for the Pentagon be so much more today.

That it was in the -- warriors of 2007.

But to get back to those 2007 spending levels would require some pretty significant cuts.

Real quickly -- -- gonna resolve this before the eleventh hour.

Yeah I think I think they will this cut their bipartisan horror about these these defense cuts especially.

Not just Republicans or some Democrats are very worried about it obviously Leon Panetta the democratic defense secretary's been calling on Capitol Hill saying do not let this happen.

-- Barbara thank you very much.

Thank you know.

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Panetta orders Pentagon to plan for deep cuts

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