Hollow Defense Debate - A View of General Sullivan's
Comments from a Member of the Senate Staff

September 1, 1998

Comment: #178

Discussion Thread:  #177

The following comments are a reaction to General Sullivan's call for higher defense budgets. The author is a long-time conservative member of the Senate Staff"

"General Sullivan also failed to mention that increasing defense spending by a puny 1% calculates to an add-on that ain't peanuts. DoD spending is now 2.9% of GDP; increasing it to 4% would mean a 38% increase in the current $257 billion budget; that's a $97.7 billion increase, up to $354.7 billion.

And, by the way, 1941 -- when today's big spenders say our defense were so neglected -- was not such a bad year for the big spenders. People forget that Roosevelt got the ball rolling in 1940; they only remember the disaster at Pearl harbor, which, by the way, had nothing to do with inadequate resources and money and everything to do with command incompetence (Kimmel or above; take your pick). Then (in 1941), defense spending was 5.7% of GDP. Almost makes one think that just spending money doesn't necessarily solve the problem."

Chuck Spinney

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QDR