A Politico article defending defense spending gives we Senators on the Armed Forces Committee something to think about regarding the budget as we haggle over fewer funds to bring home to our state military bases.

"In advance of the budget’s release,Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced significant cuts to Pentagon programs, totaling $78 billion over five years."

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The authors link reduced defense spending with loss of prestige and power abroad. They also suggest a double standard for budget cuts under the Obama administration:

"It is worth asking whether other federal agencies or domestic entitlement programs have been forced to reduce their budgets to the same extent that the Pentagon has over the past two years. The reality is that domestic discretionary spending has ballooned during the Obama administration."