Judiciary unqualified to rule on military policy (OneNewsNow.com)

Judiciary unqualified to rule on military policy (OneNewsNow.com)

via Judiciary unqualified to rule on military policy (OneNewsNow.com).

Chad Groening – OneNewsNow – 10/14/2010 4:35:00 AM

A conservative military watchdog thinks the Obama administration must appeal what she considers a rogue ruling by a federal judge who apparently believes she is “Supreme Judicial Commander of the U.S. Military.”

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips ruled Tuesday in favor of the radical Log Cabin Republicans, which asked her to impose an injunction to halt enforcement of the 1993 law that says homosexuals are ineligible for military service — a law that is often confused with Bill Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, argues that a ruling based on “don’t ask, don’t tell” is flawed — and points out that Phillips’ “short-sighted conclusion” came after eight days of “one-sided testimony from gay activists.”

“I think this is an activist judge, a judge who apparently has not even read the law,” she suggests. “The actual law says there is no constitutional right to be in the armed forces, and the statute is as constitutionally sound as ever.”

She adds that the Supreme Court has declared several times that the judiciary is the branch of government least qualified to make policy for the military. “This judge has just proven that to be true, but that does not by any means mean that this will stand; this is not the last chapter in this book,” Donnelly notes. She adds that she expects the Obama administration to appeal the ruling — and the Supreme Court to “affirm once again that federal judges do not have the power to make policy for our military.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Wednesday that the question of whether the law should be repealed should only be decided by Congress after the Pentagon completes its study on the issue.

Paper Planes? Military Budget Cuts Again Proposed by the White House » The Foundry

Paper Planes? Military Budget Cuts Again Proposed by the White House » The Foundry.

Paper Planes? Military Budget Cuts Again Proposed by the White House

• Posted August 7th, 2009 at 3.33pm in Protect America.

Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered another $50 to 60 billion more be cut from the Pentagon’s five-year defense budget plan, with new replacements for worn-out war equipment on the chopping block. The move is no surprise and preparation for a zero-growth defense budget by the Obama Administration through 2014.

One more procurement holiday, coming right up?

With the nation currently fighting two wars, it’s difficult to see which is more troubling: that the Obama Administration, in the absence of a national security strategy or new Pentagon review, is recommending a flat defense budget for the next five years, or that the Defense Secretary is going along with these plans.

Heritage research shows that President Obama’s purportedly “flat” defense budget is in actuality a declining budget, beginning with 3.81 percent of GDP in 2010 but dropping to 3.01 percent by 2019. Considering that research and development for new weapons programs is taking the brunt of the blow, the United States is staring at a repeat of the 1990’s Clinton procurement holiday from which the military still hasn’t recovered.

Now in 2009, after seven years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, personnel and essential equipment have suffered tremendous strain. The Obama Administration celebrates its victory over cutting seven F-22s from the defense budget, but in 2008 the Air Force had to ground over 300 F-15s in response to an incident where one of the aged fighters “broke in half” during a training exercise. Never mind that the F-22 was supposed to replace those legacy fighters, we’ve still got the F-35. Right?

Already over a trillion dollars, the F-35 program is $38 billion over budget and 27 months behind schedule according to the GAO. And now, Pentagon leaders may decide to make cuts to that program, as well. So after killing the F-22 on the grounds that the F-35 is the silver bullet solution, now we’re eyeing the F-35 for future cuts? What exactly are America’s airmen and women supposed to use, paper planes?

The solution is simple. Heritage has advocated that President Obama commit to spending four percent of the nation’s GDP on core defense programs—excluding funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Obama has already promised three percent of GDP to ‘science,’ so defense would hardly be a stretch. Protecting Americans is the first job of the federal government. A commitment to a larger defense budget will ensure that the military can buy enough next-generation equipment to fight and win for the next 40 years.

Missile Defense Resurgent on Capitol Hill » The Foundry

Missile Defense Resurgent on Capitol Hill » The Foundry.

Posted June 4th, 2009 at 12.20pm in Protect America.

Earlier this week the AP reported:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates isn’t ruling out spending more on missile defense than what he’s asked for in next year’s budget if North Korea or other nations increase threats against the United States.

Gates said the missile tests by North Korea over the past week appear to have attracted more support on Capitol Hill for missile interceptors.

Seems Secretary Gates is reading Congress wll. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) writes in today’s Chicago Tribune:

North Korea’s brazen act of aggression should strengthen our resolve for a tougher, smarter national security strategy that includes a multilayered missile defense system that protects our military personnel deployed in our country’s defense as well as citizens here at home.

I urge the president to reverse his opposition to a national missile-defense system. While I have been a strong supporter of his strategies for Iraq and Afghanistan, I have been disappointed by his decision to gut missile defense funding in his Defense Department budget proposal.

Gates Calls for Cuts to High-Tech Weapons Programs – First 100 Days of Presidency – Politics FOXNews.com

If congress would just cut their own pay and stop all this bailout where nobody knows what happened to the money, we could invest in our troops and the future of our military.  This is near-sighted.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday recommended a broad range of budgetary cuts to high-tech weapons programs, including production of the F-22 fighter jet.

In a move that won mixed reviews from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Gates said his $534 billion budget proposal represents a “fundamental overhaul” in defense acquisition and reflects a shift in priorities from fighting conventional wars to the newer threats U.S. forces face from insurgents in places such as Afghanistan.

He called for production of the F-22 jet to stop at 187 jets. The U.S. military has 183 jets in service now, so just four more would be funded as part of the fiscal 2009 supplemental budget if President Obama approves the recommendations. The planes cost $140 million each.

Lockheed Martin has already warned that ending this production would result in the loss of more than 90,000 jobs.

Plans to build a new helicopter for the president and a helicopter to rescue downed pilots would also be canceled. A new communications satellite would be scrapped and the program for a new Air Force transport plane would be ended.

Some of the Pentagon’s most expensive programs would also be scaled back. The Army’s $160 billion Future Combat Systems modernization program would lose its armored vehicles. Plans to build a shield to defend against missile attacks by rogue states would also be scaled back.

To fight new threats from insurgents, Gates is proposing more funding for special forces and other tools.

“In many ways, my recommendations represent a cumulative outcome of a lifetime spent in the national security arena — but above all, questions asked, experience gained and lessons learned from over two years of leading this department, and in particular, from our experience in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Gates said.

He said his recommendations would “profoundly reform” the way the Defense Department does business.

“We must re-balance this department’s programs in order to institutionalize and finance our capabilities to fight the wars we are in today and the scenarios we are most likely to face in the years ahead, while at the same time providing a hedge against other risks and contingencies,” he said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, said in a written statement that Gates’ plan was a “major step in the right direction.”

“It has long been necessary to shift spending away from weapon systems plagued by scheduling and cost overruns to ones that strike the correct balance between the needs of our deployed forces and the requirements for meeting the emerging threats of tomorrow,” he said.

But Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., in YouTube video posted on his Senate Web site, said he was “very disappointed” Obama was preparing…

Click the link below to read more…

via Gates Calls for Cuts to High-Tech Weapons Programs – First 100 Days of Presidency – Politics FOXNews.com.