(Air Force Times) Backtalk: Crunch time

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Crunch time
By Brian Braden

Few alive can recall when our nation faced such unsettling times. Service members watch the financial turmoil battering our nation with grave interest.

Obviously, their most immediate concern is how the crisis affects their wallets. However, in recent weeks I’ve been approached by concerned young officers asking, “How will this impact the military?”

They’ve been at war for years and now another level of uncertainty has been dropped upon them. They understand the military doesn’t exist in a vacuum and are hungry for straight answers.

The straight answer is the budget outlook is grim and won’t get any better — and it will affect defense.

The federal government just spent more than $850 billion it doesn’t have to save the global economy. Unemployment raced to 6.1 percent and economists say we’ve been in a recession since last December. Tax revenues will fall and this year’s deficit may top $1 trillion. This bodes ill for a nation at war.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_budget_121508/%2e