Global Impact of U.S. Defense Budget Cuts

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The Unites States economy has been a subject of debate for as long as American politics have existed, however it has never been as closely scrutinized as it is in these times. As the global economy becomes more boundless, actions taken to adjust our economy are felt as ripple effects world-wide, or even as a tidal wave. With a current and future prediction of austere budget environments in the U.S. for the foreseeable future, we must examine the global impact of our internal budget decisions. Undeniably, even with the most careful considerations given, there will be unintended consequences that were not thoughtfully considered.

The Defense Budget

The military budget of the United States is always a topic of discussion when a significant economy debate is evolving. This is because of the substantial portion of our national budget that is devoted to sustaining and building our present and future national defense structure. The military budget structure is extremely complex. It is not only broken down by service branches, it has hundreds of organizational subcategories within the service branch divisions. Funding is allocated by functional areas such as personnel pay and benefits, operation and force sustainment costs, research and development, weapons system procurements, shipbuilding, developmental and operational testing, ordinance, and military equipment disposal. The debate of increasing or decreasing our military budget must be eventually carried down to this functional areas to decide what programs will see either an increase or decrease (Axe, 2011). Inevitably, those charged with the management of the myriad of subprograms associated with the functional areas in questions, will have specific arguments to defen...

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...time progresses, military budgets will certainly continue to be center stage in deficit reductions discussions. It is my sincere hope that Congressional leaders carefully explore all avenues when making critical decisions and fully understand and convey the consequences of their actions. It is incumbent on the American people to elect leaders who possess the character and insight to do the right thing for our nation, while considering the larger global impact as well.

References

Axe, D. (2011). US Bomber Plan Questioned. The Diplomat website. Retrieved July 18, 2011, from http://the-diplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2011/07/18/us-bomber-plan-questioned/.

Hulse, C. and Cooper, H. (2011). Obama and Leaders Reach Debt Deal. The New York Times website. Retrieved August 01, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/us/politics/01FISCAL.html?pagewanted=all.

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