The chief of staff on Meet the Press two weeks ago:
In fact, that $300 billion figure comes from 75 on-going programs — it is not an annual number. But it is instructive to see how Emanuel and the Obama administration view the defense budget: comprised mainly of “cost overruns” that must be addressed. Remember when Obama said he was going to use a scalpel to excise waste from the government budget? Well, when it comes to defense it seems like his administration prefers a chainsaw. Something to keep in mind as journalists try and read the tea leaves of just how deep this administration will cut into defense spending while at the same time throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at social welfare programs that can’t make it through the traditional legislative process.
