Today, Taxpayers for Common Sense senior defense policy analyst Laura Peterson introduced a panel discussion for Capitol Hill staff on options for savings in the defense budget. TCS and the Project on Defense Alternatives sponsored the event.

Panelists were drawn from leading deficit reduction commissions such as the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force, and the Sustainable Defense Task Force. Speakers reviewed recommendations on defense spending, providing options for savings in the defense budget. Other panelists included:

■ Amy Belasco, defense budget analyst, Congressional Research Service; staff leader for defense budget section of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

■ Matthew Leatherman, analyst, Budgeting for Foreign Affairs & Defense at the Stimson Center; advisor to the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force

■ Winslow Wheeler, director, Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information; Sustainable Defense Task Force; advisor on Senator Tom Coburn’s National Fiscal Commission proposal

■ Carl Conetta, co-director, Project on Defense Alternatives; Sustainable Defense Task Force; consultant on Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s and Commissioner Andy Stern’s National Fiscal Commission proposals

■ Benjamin Friedman, research fellow in defense and homeland security, Cato Institute; Sustainable Defense Task Force

PICTURES OF THE EVENT AVAILABLE HERE

Steps Toward Defense Budget Discipline from Stimson Center on Vimeo.

While Congress struggles to reduce federal spending and deficits, the Pentagon’s “base budget” (non-war spending) is set to reach its highest level in recent history. President Obama has proposed a 6.5% ($400 billion) rollback in DoD budget plans over the next 12 years. Although the President’s target is much lower than that proposed by various deficit-reduction task forces, Defense Secretary Gates has warned that any significant retraction in DoD’s spending plans involves dire risks.

Related Documents:

The Washington Post: Five Myths About Defense Spending

The Will and the Wallet: The Financial Crisis: A Double-Edged Sword for Budget Cuts

Bipartisan Policy Center: Freeze Defense Spending

Foreign Affairs: A Leaner and Meaner Defense: How to Cut the Pentagon's Budget While Improving Its Performance

Project on Defense Alternatives: The Pentagon and Deficit Reduction

Center for Defense Information: Understand the Problem; Then Act: Why Audit/Freeze Is Needed to Distinguish Phony Proposals from Real

For additional information please contact Laura Peterson, laura [at] taxpayer.net