Lawrence Korb provides the kind of constructive criticism of the “spending freeze” that I would like to see a lot more of from progressives. Military spending is an issue that progressives need to get on the table, not only with regard to the discretionary budget but also when it comes time for a commission to make recommendations on how to fix the long-term budget deficit. If the discussion involves only tax hikes vs. entitlements cuts, we’re all going to get screwed. We had a commission in the early 1990’s to help Congress manage a major round of military base closures. We can’t let a new commission tackle the deficit without using its independence to force politically difficult cuts in military investments.
It’s good to see qualified people making informed recommendations to do just that.