The Pentagon is STILL a government program

All too many supposed conservatives — including our friends at the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Wall Street Journal — seem to believe that military spending is sacrosanct and that we should be doing more of it regardless of the federal budget situation. This, despite the fact that the US and its allies Britain and France spend about as much on its military as the rest of the world combined does.

Unfortunately, these groups fail to remember that incompetence is not the sole province of welfare programs, ethanol subsidies, and Solyndra. The DoD has had some “epic fails” as well. Check out this recent article on the F-22 which cost $80 billion to develop ( price tag of $420 million per plane), but only performs “as well as” its much cheaper European rival in close “dogfight”-style combat.

If the military is indeed going to be hit by “devastating” cuts as a result of sequestration as some in both parties have claimed, it would seem that our military planners have no one to blame but themselves.

Of course, a strong defense is important, but that doesn’t mean we can afford a blank check either.