Written by Dabney B. on Monday, September 3rd, 2012
November may be just around the corner, but we’ve still got a few months of speculation before Obama or presidential hopeful Mitt Romney wins the Oval Office. I’m not trying to persuade readers how to vote, but it might be useful to take a look at Romney’s political career and figure out where he stands on defense spending. After all, the United States Air Force could undergo some significant changes if Romney becomes president.
Some voters aren’t particularly thrilled about Romney’s service record – or lack thereof. Romney received a deferment from the draft for two years because of his missionary work in France. This was actually standard practice back then – the church and the Selective Service had an unofficial agreement that missionaries weren’t supposed to be drafted.
Image source: Theresolve.com
Romney received a second deferment for another three years while he finished his academic studies. Finally in 1965, Romney registered for the Selective Service, but his name didn’t come up until 1970. He drew a high number in the lottery and was not drafted.
Romney’s five years of deferment is something of a fuzzy middle ground for voters. You could probably call Romney’s behavior draft dodging and you wouldn’t be too far off the mark. On the other side of the coin, though, you can’t begrudge a guy for pursuing something that he believed in.
Pair Romney with Paul Ryan, and we have the first presidential ticket in 80 years wherein neither the potential president nor the vice president has any military experience.
Despite Romney’s unremarkable military history and his promise to cut government spending, Romney is more than willing to siphon big bucks into the Department of Defense. He plans to increase cheap generic cialis defense spending to as much as 4% of America’s GDP, pumping the projected 2013 budget of $525 billion up to $986 billion. Much of that money will go towards beefing up the size of the military by at least 100,000 troops.
Image source: Money.cnn.com
What’s important to understand is that Romney isn’t trying to compensate for any inadequacies that he perceived from Obama’s administration – he wants this 4% spending to become the new norm for the United States by establishing it as a spending “floor.”
Romney supported the War in Afghanistan and is prepared to pull troops out in the first year of his term, though he has expressed that he is willing to keep them in the Middle East for longer if needed. He also supported the invasion of Iraq, though he criticized what he believed was a mismanagement of the war effort.
Image source: Thedailybeast.com
Romney makes no apologies about the War on Terror. He has been heard saying that America “ought to double” the number of detainees in Guantanamo Bay. In a statement about captured Iraqi combatants, he said, “I want them in Guantanamo where they don’t get the access to lawyers they get when they’re on our soil. I don’t want them in our prisons. I want them there.”
So, what will it mean for America if Romney gets voted into office? It’s hard to say for sure, but we can guess that the Department of Defense will see its bank account surge. At the very least, the USAF should be able to look forward to four years of new gadgets and gizmos.
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