More on the F-22 & Defense Spending

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who despite being pretty terrible on spending in every other part of the federal government, has always proposed cutting our bloated defense budget. Today, he advocated eliminating the $369 million earmarked for continued procurement of the F-22 Raptor, the disastrous fighter that has no relevant mission in the 21st Century.

Speaking to the Center for American Progress, he said,

I am of course struck that so many of my colleagues who are so worried about the
deficit apparently think the Pentagon is funded with Monopoly money that somehow
doesn't count.

This is a pretty good assessment of the problems at the Pentagon. Neoconservatives have made it their modus operandi to criticize President Obama's spending plans, but continue to want even higher defense spending, claiming we need to be spending at least 4% of GDP on national defense, even though that argument is incredibly misguided. The F-22 is at the heart of this argument. It might sound over-dramatic, but I think the F-22 will tell us exactly where the Pentagon is going to go.