U.S Faces Political Combat
By: Steve Handelsman, NBC News
Updated: April 6, 2009
As President Obama went to Turkey to talk about the war on terror, back in Washington, his Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, announced major proposed changes in U.S. defense spending and deep cuts in some pricey weapons systems.Gates wants no more f-22's.
The high performance stealth fighter that costs 140 million apiece.
Buying hundreds more f-35's would fill the gap.
It's 83 million and more versatile.
The current presidential helicopter fleet would stay on duty.
Gates would delaying the replacement on the vh-71.
He wants to slow down building aircraft carriers and scale back missile defense.
Though he says the North Korean missile test over the weekend is a reminder that we need protection from rogue states.
Now comes political combat. Much of the work on huge defense systems is done at multiple locations.
Meaning more lawmakers apt to say: "cut something else"
"It becomes that much more difficult, the more states that are involved that more districts that are involved to build a consensus to cut programs where thousands of jobs might be at stake," said former Defense Secretary William Cohen.
So another budget battle waits for President Obama.
He'll have the backing of John McCain who said the Gates-Obama pentagon plan is a major step in the right direction.
