In my opinion, there often is remarkably little correlation between spending and results. Our educational system is an obvious instance: the more we spend, the worse our schools get. I seriously believe that if we cut education spending by 50%, our kids would be better educated.
This is a basic difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives measure results, while liberals measure inputs. Thus, if we want better schools–or a better military–the liberal solution is obvious: spend more money. Whether the money actually does any good is of little or no interest. When the checks are written, the liberal’s job is done.
Which brings us to the Department of Defense: Pete Hegseth orders defense leadership to draw up plans for huge budget cuts as DOGE enters the Pentagon. Pete wants the strongest and most effective military possible, but he knows from his own experience that DoD wastes enormous amounts of money. The question is not how much money you spend, it is how you spend it.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly asked Pentagon officials Tuesday to draw up plans to slash defense spending for each of the next five years — as the department became the latest target of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) cost-cutting mission.
Hegseth, 44, demanded a proposal that would include annual 8% cuts to the Pentagon’s roughly $850 billion budget, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Post.
The defense secretary ordered senior Pentagon officials, top military commanders, and the directors of several defense agencies to draft plans for the proposed cuts by Feb. 24.
This is what we should be seeing across the federal departments and agencies. Forget about protecting your budget, the usual obsession of the bureaucrat. Figure out how to do more good with less money. This is what businessmen do every day, but it is an alien way of thinking in the public sector.
Doing more with less obviously involves priorities:
Hegseth’s memo contained a list of 17 categories of spending that the Trump administration wants to be exempted from cuts, according to the outlet, including US-Mexico border operations, modernization of nuclear weapons, missile defense, submarine acquisition, one-way attack drones and other munitions.
Seems sensible. As does this:
“The time for preparation is over — we must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence,” Hegseth wrote in the memo. “Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.”
Under swamp leadership, the Department of Defense has failed seven audits in a row. They literally can’t explain where billions of dollars go. This would be a scandal if more people cared about how the government spends their money.
But Pete Hegseth is bringing a new mindset to DoD. He doesn’t care about diversity, and he isn’t in the pocket of defense contractors. He stands for the fighting men and women who are capable of actually winning wars. His mission is to get them what they need, make sure they are properly trained, recruit many more to follow in their footsteps, and do away with the bulls**t. It is a tall order, but Pete might be able to do it.
