The Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCP) in conjunction with the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) released a report this week targeting common sense savings within the nation’s security apparatus. By identifying simple ways to cut wasteful defense procurement policies and reform Department of Defense entitlement programs, their study found almost $600 billion in potential savings. And while I don’t agree with every one of their suggestion, this latest report is further evidence that substantial savings exist within the DoD’s programs, as long as lawmakers have the courage to look.
While Senate leaders made some progress towards fiscal responsibility in defense spending in this year’s Defense Authorization, there is a sea of potential savings still to be had. DoD procurement has an abysmal history of cost overruns and duplications, wasting taxpayers billions of dollars designing alternative weapons systems that will never be used. Eliminating one version of the Littoral Combat Ship and replacing two of the three F-35 Fighter models with F/A-18 Super Hornets combine to save taxpayers $44.1 billion. As the nation struggles with our long-term fiscal stability, wasting $30 billion on troops stationed in Europe or $3.7 billion procuring a next-generation bomber fleet the Air Force does not want or need aren’t sustainable and demand Congressional scrutiny.
Not surprisingly, the DoD also suffers from exponentially increasing costs in its entitlement programs. DoD’s healthcare system, TRICARE, consumes more than 8 percent of its budget, with no reprieve in sight. Even the minor reforms suggested by former-Secretary Robert Gates’ Quadrennial Review could save taxpayers $60 billion by transferring ex-service members into employer-offered programs. Smarter defense spending through minor changes like these can save taxpayers billions without sacrificing the nation’s security or the safety of our troops. And while I distrust liberals whose favorite budget cut is to slash vital defense spending, when eliminating wasteful spending, the DoD must not be give a free pass, especially when hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars is on the line.
