Pentagon Weighs Entitlement Cuts
Posted at 4 p.m. on Jan. 23
“Of all the politically difficult budget issues…few are more charged than the question of military entitlements which have risen sharply over the past decade,” the Financial Times reports.
“In constant dollar terms, the basic defence budget, excluding war costs, is almost equal to the peak of the Cold War arms race in the early 1980s… However, even with these resources… The Pentagon’s ability to invest in new weapons has been compromised by dramatic cost-overruns on high-profile projects.”
“At the same time, salary costs have risen rapidly after Congress voted every year from 2004 to 2011 to award an increase above the cost of living… With healthcare premiums frozen for more than a decade, the cost of military healthcare increased by nearly 300 per cent from 2001 to 2012.”
