Patenesq, that was an interesting article, but I felt it was short-sighted.
“The president will probably exercise his option under the law to exempt military personnel from the cuts, meaning reductions would fall disproportionately on investment and readiness accounts,” said another Defense insider, Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.
The problem in this approach would be cutting investments would equate into cutting jobs in Congressional districts that these companies are the livelihood for the residents.
It reminds me of the BRAC rounds back in the 90's and even in the early 2000's. Congressmen, even in the Dem party will oppose this because their 1st priority will be to protect their constituents and be re-elected. If they have no military installation in their district, but have Lockheed, or Grumman building hardware they will want personnel cuts. That is not even discussing the purple states where this could be huge.
I understand if that is our Presidents position because reducing personnel will cause unemployment to rise and that is an issue now; expected to be through 12. He wouldn't want it to rise any higher since the avg voter is not going to comprehend it was tied to the reduction of the DOD budget, all they will see or hear is it is still over 9% and how many more are added on the rolls every month.
My pet peeve looking at your other link...the endless amount of duplication in the govt. They have become so big and burdensome that it is almost impossible to navigate and interface within the system.
Presidential Call for a Career-Ready Military: The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs,
working closely with other agencies and the President’s economic and domestic policy teams, will lead a new task force to develop reforms to ensure that every member of the service receives the training, education, and credentials they need to transition to the civilian workforce or to pursue higher education. These reforms will include the design of a “reverse bootcamp,” which will extend the transition period to give service members more counseling and guidance and leave them career-ready.
Transition to the Private Sector: The Department of Labor will establish a new initiative to deliver an enhanced career development and job search service package to transitioning veterans at their local One-Stop Career Centers. The Office of Personnel Management will create a “Best Practices” Manual for the private sector to help businesses identify and hire veterans.
How many more GSs or contractors will the tax payers have to pay to be the liaison between all of these organizations? That is on top of the fact that every branch already has programs within their system to provide transitional training. It is required for AD members to attend prior to separating.
How much will it cost for the OPM to create a "Best Practices" Manual that will become dust collectors even if offered for free to every company, big or small in the country?
JMPO, Obama will be our President in 2013 if Newt is the nom, and all of this will be moot. I think even if Newt isn't the nom, Obama will be President, so he can ride rough shod over the DOD and still win.