Enough with the defense cuts already

Or so urges Antelope Valley Congressman Buck McKeon, who has released this four-minute video in which he lays out his concerns about a drop in defense spending and why Congress must avoid future cuts. The deficit-reduction package calls for $350 billion in Pentagon cuts over the next decade, including trims that could affect aerospace employment in Southern California. With a special committee charged with slicing the budget by another $1.5 trillion, McKeon seems to be making a preemptive strike. So what gets cut instead? Good question. From the WSJ:

The video, narrated by Rep. McKeon, offers some eye-catching statistics about the overall size of the military, which has shrunk in size relative to Cold War levels, despite record spending levels after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. And it also features combat footage from places such as Afghanistan and relief operations in Haiti and Japan. "There's been a lot of talk about the numbers," Rep. McKeon said. "What we're going to focus on is what that means - what that means to the guy out on patrol today in Afghanistan."