From The New York Times -

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 - The Pentagon plans to retire one of the Navy’s 12 aircraft carriers, buy fewer amphibious landing ships for the Marine Corps and delay the development of a costly Army combat system of high-tech arms as part of $60 billion in proposed cuts over the next six years, Congressional and military officials said Wednesday.

Since the November elections, the White House has been under growing pressure to offset mounting deficits and at the same time pay for the unexpectedly high costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan…

Military and Congressional officials said the Pentagon was looking to trim up to $10 billion in the 2006 budget alone.

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Current Cost of War in Iraq (est.) - $146 billion

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Yes ! We’re going to be cutting back the rate of growth of spending!

We’re tightening the belts. Well, not actually tightening ‘em, because we can’t do that. We can’t keep our belts at the same notch either, really - we’re at war, stuff happens, it’s the holidays, etc. We’re gonna put on a little weight, no way to avoid it. But with some will power we can loosen our belts at a slower rate. And since the economy is growing, tax revenue is growing, so we’re growing. Our economy is a growing boy, needing a larger waistband, yes, but also getting taller. Proportionally, he looks just fine!

Well, okay, tax revenue has actually declined for the past couple of years. Tax cuts. Riiiight. Income tax revenues last year were about the same as they were in 1999. Lower last year than the year before, which was lower than the year before that. So at the moment, the boy’s not actually growing as we let out his belt another notch or two, no, he’s sort of… shrinking a little.

But like any proud parent, we can look at our bouncing baby budget and see what’s beautiful in it. Our boy is just fine! Sure, he’s shrinking in size while getting fatter and fatter, yes, he collapses after running half a block and lies there panting until you tempt him to his feet with a bag of peanut M&M’s, yes, he was mistaken for a medicine ball in gym class last week, but he’s fine. THAT’S what other governments don’t understand, that’s what economists and financiers are overlooking as they forecast doom and downgrade our currency - our economy is good, our economy is handsome, our economy is just big-boned, that’s all. Big-boned and temporarily cursed with a slow metabolism. But just you wait. Just you wait and he’ll have his growth spurt. And then they’ll see. He’ll show them all.

Meanwhile, we’re gonna need a bigger belt. One whose designers don’t kowtow to that ridiculous, unattainable, media-generated image that children should be taller than they are wide. Just a nice new belt, whether or not it costs a few bucks. Nothing’s too good for our baby.