House GOP: No Marine Corps, You Can't Cut Spending On Weapons You Don't Want

From the Wall Street Journal:

In a letter sent today to Mr. Gates, the Republican leadership of the House Armed Services Committee expressed “serious reservations” about plans to chop items like the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, the Marine Corps’ next-generation amphibious tank, from the Defense Department’s shopping list. And they asked that the Pentagon put on hold any “stop work” orders on those items that are in line to be cut.

Wait, it gets better.

“Our immediate concern is that the Defense Department will take precipitous action in the near term that would undercut Congress’ ability to pass judgment on the recommendations,” states the letter, which is signed by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R., Calif.), Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R., Md.), Rep. Mac Thornberry (R., Texas), and several others.

The letter is part of an ongoing campaign by legislators to spare the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, but the members also questioned proposals to halt the Surface Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, a surface-to-air weapon with the rather marvelous acronym SLAMRAAM.

A House Armed Services Committee hearing on Mr. Gates’s efficiencies drive is scheduled for Wednesday.

Don't cut SLAMRAAM! Ha. Basically, the ole' hawks on the GOP side are all for a balanced budget- at someone else's expense. The Generals and Admirals don't want a lot of this spending, but by dammit, these Congressional "wannabe Kings" aren't ready to give up their cash-cows. "Buck," Roscoe, and Mac must know better than the guys in uniform. What a shock, the GOP always thinks it knows better than actual experts.