The Latest (Semi) Austerity Casualty – The Pentagon
Courtesy of Tyler Durden
Technically, we misspoke. The US is most certainly not in austerity… Yet. Which is why one can imagine the fallout that will occur once the country does cross the Rubicon into prudent spending, especially after recent disclosure that certain Pentagon accounts are about to run dry as soon as August as is. Reuters reports that the Pentagon said on Wednesday it may be forced to take extreme measures — like not paying salaries — if the Democratic-led Congress fails to pass a $37 billion defense spending bill before lawmakers begin an August recess. In retrospect this looks like the best straw man to be used by various splinter groups terrified of what austerity would mean for their salaries – just throw out that America would be defenseless and all talk of non-excess spending would cease immediately. Furthermore, what is the big deal – the US issues between 2 and 3 times that amount in various auctions each week. Surely Chine would be very happy to know a third of a week’s tally is going to support the unparalleled (and broke) US military machine.
Tensions are growing in the Pentagon about the fate of the bill, which has languished in Congress despite repeated pleas for action by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who needs to fund a 30,000-troop surge for the Afghan war.
The White House has added to the drama, threatening to veto the bill over $800 million in education spending cuts that were added by the House of Representatives.
“While we hope and expect the Congress will get this done, we also are obligated now to begin seriously planning for the possibility that they don’t,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.
He noted that “absent more drastic action” certain Army and Marine Corps spending accounts would run dry in August.
The Defense Department would do everything in its power, Morrell said, to continue to protect the United States and support troops “deployed in harm’s way.”
“It may involve asking a lot of hard-working people in this department to report to duty without an ability to pay them or other extreme measures we would rather avoid,” he said. “But we will get the job done, including in Iraq and Afghanistan and where else we operate around the world.”
What is very surprising is that Europe, which now that the bonds of the monetary union are collapsing, is exposing far more of the ethnic, racial and religious tensions that kept it the hotbed of warfare for 10 centuries, did not use precisely the same excuse to have austerity blocked. Surely, if various parliaments had decided to tie in overall pension cuts to Mig 29 jet fuel inventory and 7.62 shells, austerity would be dead as the dodo, the ECB would be printing hand over fist, Krugman would be happy as a pig in heat and the recent G-20 strongarm campaign for record deficit spending would have been a tremendous success.
h/t Mark
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