Talent Protests 2007 DOD Cut

Talent Protests 2007 DOD Cut: Missouri Senator Jim Talent (R) has been leading a charge to restore the planned buy of C-17 airlifters from 180 to 222. Now, he tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he has learned of internal memos that show the White House wants to cut $7.5 billion from the Fiscal 2007 defense budget—and that is “irresponsible.” Talent claims the White House told him the 2007 budget would be about $443 billion, but now, he says, that number is being cut without any objective military analysis. Our question is: Is this in addition to the purported $32 billion cut across 2007-11? In fact, the Talent-revealed number for 2007 would be lower than the $15 billion figure for 2007 alone that surfaced earlier this year.