Senator John McCain, a decorated warrior who has sacrificed much for this country, would do well to take action rather than talk.  At a recent Congressional hearing on cuts to the military budget, Senator McCain remarked:

“As far as I’m concerned, I will fight any additional cuts in defense spending,” he added, “but I will also tell you that cost overruns as far as procurement is concerned is an insult to American taxpayers. There are efficiencies that can still be imposed.”

Now these words sound like fighting words, but what does do they actually mean?  I am to greater risks.  The question is:  How much is enough?    It seems to me that we should adjust our military budget to the nature of threat – both short and long term.   The threat today is very much different than it was during the Cold War.  Shouldn’t we be focusing our expenditures on dealing with terrorism and regional upheavals that threaten the security of the United States rather than major land wars in Europe or Asia?

What is more disturbing is Senator McCain’s indictment of cost overruns in the military procurement process.   We all know it exists.  In fact, SFTT regularly points out serial military procurement offenders that are well documented by government inspectors.  Instead of pounding your chest Senator McCain, act now to get rid of the dead weight in our military chain of command that allows this incompetence and corruption to continue.   If you are looking for heads to roll to show that you mean business, you can find these “empty uniforms”  in this SFTT article on the corruption in the procurement of body armor for troops that serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Let’s make sure that accountability still exists.

Talk is cheap,  our troops and the American taxpayers want action!