The White House has requested $548.9 billion in new spending for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2011, an increase of 3.4 percent compared to the $530.8 billion enacted in FY10. After adjusting for inflation, the budget shows real growth of approximately 1.8 percent, falling just shy of the 2 percent real growth that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said would be required over the coming years. Nevertheless, the increase, which pushes baseline defense spending to about 3.6 percent of gross domestic product, comes at a time when the government faces a $1,267 trillion deficit and mounting pressure against topline spending. The FY11 deficit, in fact, is expected to be $355 billion higher than the government originally projected in May 2009.
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