Defense Spending

The House voted 249 to 172 to lower defense spending next fiscal year from the $306-billion level set by the Armed Services Committee to $289 billion. The $17-billion cut brought the 1988 defense outlay in line with the congressional budget resolution, which was approved after the committee had set the $306-billion level. Facing nearly 200 other amendments, the bill (HR 1748) remained in debate. Supporter Les Aspin (D-Wis.

Re "Reduce Armed Forces at Our Peril," Commentary, Dec. 18: The credibility of Caspar Weinberger and Peter Schweizer's argument for an increase in defense spending is severely damaged by not squarely addressing the fact that the Cold War is over and, as we are often told, so is the era of big government. To be sure, there are simmering disputes around the world that may require a military response from the U.S.; however, they pale in comparison to the threat, real or perceived, this country faced from the Soviet Union.

There was muted jubilation in the Pentagon over George W. Bush's election, reflecting a belief among top military officers that his administration would move quickly to raise defense spending. The brass should have paid closer attention to what Bush said during his run for the White House. While faulting the Clinton administration for spending too little on the armed forces, Bush avoided promising that he would spend a lot more.

The Japanese government approved an austere draft national budget Monday that increases defense spending and overseas assistance but holds down domestic programs. The $270.4-billion budget for the fiscal year beginning April, 1986, was approved by Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone's Cabinet during an extraordinary session.

House and Senate negotiators approved a nearly $245-billion defense appropriations bill that they said was $9.4 billion more than President Clinton requested. They predicted that Clinton would sign the bill, which includes a 3% military pay raise. The measure also includes $325 million more than Clinton requested for antimissile defense research to speed up construction of such a defense for U.S.

Finance Minister Shimon Peres asked Israel's Cabinet on Sunday to approve a $27.2-billion state budget for 1990 that would put more money into battling the Palestinian uprising. The Cabinet met for seven hours and will discuss the draft budget again today before voting on the proposal and sending it to Parliament. The Finance Ministry proposed defense spending of $5.

President Clinton on Saturday proposed the first significant increase in defense spending in a decade and said he would ask Congress for an additional $12 billion as a down payment on a multiyear effort to ensure the nation's military continues "as the world's most powerful fighting force." Over six years, his plan would add roughly $100 billion to the nation's military budget, which now totals $251 billion.

The world may be in turmoil, but in the defense business there are signs of a return to normalcy. After dreary decades in which the U.S. military had to live without a presentable threat with which to justify its spending on high-technology weapons, the Chinese stepped up to the plate. With ominous talk gaining currency in Washington of actual cuts in the U.S. defense budget, our Asian friends have suddenly offered a titillating peek from an airfield in Chengdu at their newest warplane, described as a radar-evading "stealth" fighter like our own F-22.

Defense spending brought more than $10 billion to San Diego County in 2001, including the largest portion of military payroll received by any county in the United States. A study presented to county supervisors Tuesday showed that defense spending in the region has increased after years of decline in the 1990s. The county received $10.1 billion in defense spending in 2001, the most recent information available.