As Defense Secretary Robert Gates takes on General Electric, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other “powerful people” in seeking cuts to major weapons programs, he may get help from an unexpected ally — the tea party movement.
Key tea party players, on and off Capitol Hill, are expressing a willingness to put the Pentagon budget on the chopping block if it will help rein in federal spending and eliminate a projected trillion-dollar-plus budget deficit.
Although generally hawkish and conservative with a libertarian streak — “we’re for strong defense” is an oft-repeated mantra in the movement — tea party leaders and allies contacted by POLITICO said that both fairness and common sense dictate that the military budget be scrutinized for such cuts, a view that puts them in sync with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and some of the most liberal members of Congress.
“Everything is on the table,” insisted Mark Meckler, a national coordinator with the group Tea Party Patriots. “I have yet to hear anyone say, ‘We can’t touch defense spending,’ or any other issue. ... Any tea partier who says something else lacks integrity.”
Tea partiers say they are concerned about “waste, fraud and abuse” within all government programs. To them, anything that government touches is riddled with inefficiency and corruption.
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