Defense Spending Cuts Could Savage Virginia's Economy

Sometimes you need to be careful what you ask for. Virginians - foolishly, in my view - too often vote for Republicans both at the state and national level when it's not ultimately in their best interest. Too often the Kool-Aid drinker set in Virginia deceptively whips the general voting public into a frenzy over social issues and rallies support for Christianist and Tea Party GOP candidates - local Congressmen Scott Rigell pictured at left and Randy Forbes are perfects example - with no thought to where some of the anti-government extremism might lead. As the Virginian Pilot is reporting, if the Congressional super committee does not reach a budget cutting agreement, the GOP demanded automatic cuts will go into effect and Virginia will get bitten in the ass big time financially. Not surprisingly, Hampton Roads would feel great pain as would Northern Virginia. Did the AFA endorsed Rigell or Forbes not to mention Pat Robertson's BFF Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell think these consequences through, or are they merely stupid demagogues? Here are some story highlights:

If Congress were to cut $1 trillion from the defense budget over the next 10 years, the consequences for Virginia, particularly Hampton Roads, could be bleak, according to a report by Republican staffers on the House Armed Services Committee.

The Navy could see major cutbacks in shipbuilding, thousands fewer sailors, two dozen fewer ships and the loss of two carrier strike groups, the report predicts. Virginia and two other defense-heavy states, California and Texas, could lose 1 of every 4 civilian defense jobs, thousands of defense contracts could dry up and there could be another round of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC.

Nonpartisan defense experts stress the report is a worst-case scenario that may not come to pass. But it does demonstrate the possible effects of deep cuts, they said, particularly because the GOP staff members specifically avoided making cuts to a large part of the budget - military pay, benefits and retirement programs.

A special House-Senate "supercommittee" has until Nov. 23 to trim the budget deficit either by spending cuts, revenue increases or some combination, under the terms of a budget law passed this summer. If the 12-member panel fails, the law triggers automatic spending cuts of $1.2 trillion.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said if the automatic cuts - called sequestration - are made, the Pentagon could lose about $1.1 trillion over 10 years, according to Congressional Quarterly.

U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, who heads the House defense panel's Readiness Subcommittee, said Wednesday the GOP staff analysis is a first pass at identifying cuts that could be in play. More detailed reports will follow, he said.

There has not been enough focus on how cutting billions in defense might affect national security and the United States' military presence worldwide, the Chesapeake Republican said. "The only question that is being asked is, 'How much do we cut?' " he said. "That is an incredibly dangerous way to do national defense."

Should Hampton Roads and Virginia as a whole take a financial body blow, I hope the Democrats will find the spine to remind the voters who brought the calamity upon them. I'm not against trimming defense spending, but someone needs to use some serious thought on how to do it - and about the need to end the tax breaks for the very wealthy.