The Game Changes

摘要

Take your seats at ring side. A new round of the Great American Navy Shipbuilding Gladiatorial Knockout is about to begin. And this time, the rules have changed. All the signs are- that we are in for a cost-cutting competition that will be fought with chainsaws rather than scalpels. A sign of how tough it will get? Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently showed up at the White House with his arm in a cast. He told staffers he'd just had a meeting with new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Peter Orszag. The Obama Administration has said it will delay publication of its first detailed Department of Defense (DOD) budget request until late April. A budget outline published in February contained scant details, beyond saying that the base request for DOD will be $533.7 billion, or an increase of 4% from the 2009 enacted level of $513.3 billion (excluding funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). This funding will have to cover an increase in the size of the Army and Marine Corps, improvements in the medical treatment of wounded service members, and to reform the acquisition process. In addition, the Budget will incorporate into the base items previously funded in emergency supplementals.