Sacrificing Security for One Day of Stimulus Spending

“The report calculates that an average of $1.1 billion in new spending has been obligated each day since the bill was signed.” – Politico, May 13, 2009, reporting on President Barack Obama’s stimulus package.

“Overall, the Missile Defense Agency program will be reduced by $1.4 billion.” – U.S. Department of Defense, April 6, 2009 on Secretary of Defense Robert Gates budget recommendation.

For the cost of just one day’s worth of economic stimulus spending the Obama administration could fully fund missile defense. Heritage fellow Baker Spring responds to Gates’ cuts:

Today’s wars are the result of the fragmented, post-Cold War threats to U.S. and allied security. This fragmented threat environment calls for a U.S. strategic posture that is more defensive in nature, particularly against the clear, present, and growing ballistic missile threat rather than the retaliation-based strategic posture designed to deter the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Nevertheless, Secretary Gates chose to de-emphasize missile defense by reducing its budget by $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2010.Thus, the first task for Congress is to restore the $1.4 billion in missile defense funding that Secretary Gates has proposed to be stripped from the budget. In taking this step, Congress should state explicitly that it is doing so because defeating missile attacks on the U.S. and its allies is essential to fighting and winning the wars the U.S. is engaged in now and for the near term with the disparate forces of rogue regimes and terrorist elements around the world.