Media Matters attacked Sean Hannity yesterday for “falsely” claiming the Obama administration is cutting the military budget and “misleadingly” clipping Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Contra, Media Matters, Hannity is correct on both counts. Cutting the Defense Budget: Media Matters notes that the current FY 2009 Pentagon budget is slightly over $513 billion and that Obama’s proposed FY 2010 budget is almost $534 billion. This makes it seem like a defense budget increase, but this isn’t an accurate comparison to make. President Bush’s FY 2009 budget projected allocating $549.8 billion in …
A Direct Challenge Three, Two, One … Launch: North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range Taepo Dong-2 missile in early April, capable of hitting targets in the western United States. A Continuing Threat: A 2001 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate assessed a two-stage Taepo Dong-2 could threaten Alaska, Hawaii, and the western United States while a three-stage missile could threaten all of North America with a nuclear warhead. Civilian Satellite? North Korea is characterizing the launch as a civilian satellite to minimize negative repercussion from its provocative act. However, mastering …
