Congress can trim $688 billion from the federal deficit over the next 10 years by cutting unneeded weapons, including the unwanted airplane and the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship, the Project on Government Oversight said in a report that it issued with Taxpayers for Common Sense.
“Americans are tightening their belts, and it’s time for the U.S. government to do the same,” said the report. “In light of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the subsequent failure of the ‘Super Committee,’ Congress is still desperately seeking ways to reduce spending. To this end, the Project On Government Oversight and Taxpayers for Common Sense have closely examined the proposed national security budget and found plenty of wasteful spending.”
Even though the U.S. military is drawing down its presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. national security spending is higher, when adjusted for inflation, than at any point during the Cold War and accounts for more than half of all discretionary spending, according to the report.
Military spending at the Department of Defense (DoD) has increased by an astounding 95 percent from FY 2001 to the FY 2013 estimate, adjusted for inflation. Nuclear weapons spending at the Department of Energy (DOE) is projected to grow by billions of dollars over the next decade.
The Project On Government Oversight is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that champions good government reforms. POGO’s investigations into corruption, misconduct, and conflicts of interest achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government.
Taxpayers for Common Sense is a nonpartisan budget watchdog serving as an independent voice for American taxpayers. Its mission is to achieve a government that spends taxpayer dollars responsibly and operates within its means. TCS works with individuals, policymakers, and the media to increase transparency, expose and eliminate wasteful and corrupt subsidies, earmarks, and corporate welfare, and hold decision makers accountable.