Question of the DOD Budget

Open letter to Rep. Neugebauer:

Randy,

Your question of the week is, "Do you think Defense cuts that do not affect troop readiness should be on the table?.

This is a poorly worded question from two points of view.

In the first place, I don't believe you're really talking about defense cuts. I think you probably mean reducing the budget for the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense is essentially military in two forms; aggression, such as wars in Afghanistan and Libya, and actual defense of the United States, if you mean actions against terrorists in the US and externally, that might be considered defense.

The second item is rather nebulous. What do you mean by troop readiness? Ready to repel a foreign invasion, or ready to jump off to engage in another ridiculous foreign war?

The way you worded the question, there is no "yes" or "no" answer. The proper action to a properly worded question would be to cut military expenditures for anything relating to foreign wars of aggression, including ground troops, To not reduce expenditures on anything concerning actual defense of the US. This would include maintaining highest technology in Star Wars programs and the ability to conduct surgical strikes on terrorist establishments in foreign countries.

Fortunately, 63% of responders were astute enough to be able to properly interpret the reality of the poorly worded question.