Cynical Nation

...which is why I wonder if the pork daddies in Congress will allow it to happen. It wouldn't be the first time that proposed Pentagon cuts have been nixed by legislators eager to bring home the bacon to their districts. Still, if there's any hope of bringing discretionary spending under control, the military will have to do its part.

I'm glad Bush is finally making a push to rein in the budget, but if he wants to make it stick, he'll likely have to learn how to use the veto pen.

The Pentagon plans to retire one of the Navy's 12 aircraft carriers, buy fewer amphibious landing ships for the Marine Corps and delay the development of a costly Army combat system of high-tech arms as part of $60 billion in proposed cuts over the next six years, Congressional and military officials said Wednesday.

The proposed reductions, the details of which are still being fine-tuned and which would require Congressional approval, result from White House orders to all federal agencies to cut their spending requests for the 2006 fiscal year budgets, which will be submitted to lawmakers early next year.