The military is the largest bureaucracy in the government (comprising some 20% of the total budget), ergo it is the organization with the most waste in absolute dollar terms. Just because one supports Department of Defense’s purpose more than that of any other department does not mean that one shouldn’t look critically—and shouldn’t acknowledge that DoD is, like all government, a morass that could surely be cut intelligently.
Conservatives do themselves a disservice by considering any cut to defense as an argument-ender. This Daily Caller article decries trimming the fate of Air Force majors, but substitute “Department of XYZ” for “Air Force” and “typical middle manager” for “major who has twice been passed over for promotion,” and we would be applauding some rare common sense by management in the government—thinning the ranks of excess personnel, as opposed to the usual coddling that job-for-life employees receive.
It seems that what the “military advocates” are proposing is that the passed-over should be allowed to skate by into a lifetime of benefits for the final six years of their 20-year tenure, which seems wrong in any organization.
Rightwise Blog 