1. Did Obama propose to cut $400 billion in defense spending? Here is his wording:
Just as we must find more savings in domestic programs, we must do the same in defense. Over the last two years, Secretary Gates has courageously taken on wasteful spending, saving $400 billion in current and future spending. I believe we can do that again.
Two sub-questions: 1) does "do that again mean "save another $400 billion," or just "take on wasteful spending"? More to the point: while Gates did cut an alleged $400 billion out of projected budgets for planned projects, that still left defense with annual budget increases exceeding the inflation rate. Will the next $400 billion in 'savings' also leave the defense budget growing? [Update: the White House outline says the plan "sets a goal of holding the growth in base security spending below inflation, while ensuring our capacity to meet our national security responsibilities, which would save $400 billion by 2023." Holding growth below inflation is a departure; according to Bloomberg, 2/16/11, "The U.S. Defense Department’s five- year weapons-buying budget, while lower than the military planned last year, still results in annual, inflation-adjusted growth of about 2.6 percent, according to an analyst.
