Romney - Defense Proposals

I am a supporter of Mitt Romney. I largely agree with his foreign policy proposals. However, I disagree with his approach on defense spending. There are two reasons why.

1) The US Military can meet America's defense requirements with Obama's proposed 10yr defense budget. While the January sequester cuts would be catastrophic and must be avoided, Obama's proposed ten year/$450 bn cuts are effectively designed to maximize core force capabilities while taking into account the challenging fiscal environment that the US faces. These cuts are supported by current and former Secretaries of Defense and the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. This budget tool shows how the US Military could remain its flexible capabilities even after significant spending cuts. For me, building more ships will not equal more security (increased ship building is the cornerstone of Romney's defense plan). It will simply mean more debt.

2) If we Republicans want to honestly assert fiscal conservatism, we must be willing to recognize that our current defense expenditures are unaffordable. As the Joint Chiefs Chairman frequently states, the national debt has become the greatest threat to US security. We cannot continue to spend money that we do not have. America's defense spending must be rooted in strategic requirements and not corporate hand outs to the defense industry nor in feeding the pet projects of lawmakers. We cannot absolve the DoD from sharing its part in restoring our nation's finances.