According to reports, President Barack Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, where he will order members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days. Just how laughable is Obama’s latest stunt to try to maintain his “fiscal responsibility” credentials? This graphic from Heritage’s John Fleming might help:
What would you do if an enemy tested a weapon that could kill millions of your fellow citizens? According to Heritage Foundation vice president Kim Holmes, the logical response would be to build up a missile defense system capable of knocking a ballistic missile out of the sky. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration’s recent announcement to cut missile defense isn’t exactly logical. In fact it is downright puzzling. Holmes discusses this confusion in his recent op-ed in the Washington Times. While North Korea tested a long-range missile, the Pentagon announced a …
The left is all atwitter over the Obama administration’s release of their High-Speed Rail Plan, which, as with most everything that comes out of the Obama administration these days, is long on hope, short on details, and completely out of touch with reality. The plan includes an $8 billion “down payment” from the $787 billion stimulus package and calls for another $5 billion from the FY 2010 budget. This $13 billion will be spent in two rounds: 1) “on projects that can be completed quickly and yield measurable, near-term job …
Spaceflight Now‘s Craig Covault reports: New details emerging from the analysis of data from North Korea’s April 5 Taepo-Dong-2 test indicate the vehicle flew successfully several hundred miles further than previously believed and used more advanced steering than has been demonstrated by the North Korean’s before.
Selling his defense budget cuts at the Air Force War College today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, according to the AP, “the pirate drama over the last week helps prove his point about why the Pentagon should change its weapon-buying habits.” No one is more joyful about the Navy Seals rescue of Captain Richard Phillips then the Heritage family. But the threats our nation faces extends a bit beyond three pirates in the Gulf of Aiden. If China takes down our satellite system sometime in the future, will Gates shoot …
What will the military look like in 2019? That is a question that is being asked in light of Secretary Gates’ proposed defense budget cuts. In 2019 it will appear that Gates’ proposal for short-term savings will have jeopardized future readiness. Instead of focusing on evolving threats the U.S. military will have stayed in a state of limbo. Modernization will have come to a halt. This is evident in the reduction of missile defense funding Gates proposed. The decrease of $1.4 billion will essentially stop the development of more advanced …
Undeterred by their failure to ransom a U.S. flagged cargo ship, Somali pirates have since brazenly hijacked four more ships in the Gulf of Aden. Heritage has been studying maritime security for years, first issuing a report in 2005. Our latest 2008 report, Securing the High Seas: America’s Global Maritime Constabulary Power, recommended: Doubling the U.S. Coast Guard’s active and reserve end strength over the next decade and accelerating Coast Guard modernization; Expanding the Navy’s stated goal of 313 ships by an additional 37 ships (the preponderance of which should …
Last week President Obama took another opportunity to discuss his budget plans with the American people. As part of selling his $3.2 billion dollar budget, he has set his sights on defense acquisition reform and the time-honored tradition of promising greater cost savings by rooting out the fraud, waste, and abuse within the system. While reforming the acquisition system is a noble task, buried within the President’s language is the subtle message that he sees acquisition reform not just as an effort towards reforming the acquisition process, but also as …
