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07 Jan 2009 03:21 pm

A Pentagon Bail-Out?

Seriously? Taxpayers for Common Sense fisks Martin Feldstein:

In a Wall Street Journal editorial published on Christmas Eve, Feldstein argues that plowing an extra $30 billion into DOD would produce 300,000 jobs. With all due respect to Dr. Feldstein, his reasons do not reflect the well-documented realities of the Pentagon budget.

Feldstein recommends a “short-term surge” of at least $30 billion per year in 2009 and 2010, followed by a sharp dropoff. About $20 billion would go to procurement and research and $10 billion to operations, presumably to support the thousands of troops he also wants to add. But everyone knows money at the Pentagon moves more like molasses than a surging river. Severe increases in the cost and schedule of major weapons systems has been amply documented by DOD itself. Embedding expensive weapons in the DOD budget by overestimaing budgets and lowballing costs and production schedules has resulted in less military for more money, a problem detailed in the new Center for Defense Information book America’s Defense Meltdown. And more troops means billions of dollars in support costs for decades to come.

(Hat tip: Ken Silverstein)

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