Scare tactics delay, not solve, budget woes

At a town hall meeting in North Las Vegas - one of a series scheduled around the country - U.S. Sen. John McCain and two other Republican senators warned Monday that the U.S. military faces "Draconian" budget cuts of $500 billion that could kill jobs and jeopardize national security unless President Barack Obama and Democrats agree to reverse them.

The senators claimed the automatic cuts could claim more than 1 million jobs nationwide, including 4,256 in Nevada, and slam a fragile recovery with $679 million in lost economic activity in the Silver State alone.

McCain and U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire visited Nellis Air Force Base before the public meeting at the College of Southern Nevada's nearby Cheyenne Avenue campus. They said generals told them the country's fighter pilot program would be devastated if the military cuts go into effect.

"If this happens, Nellis Air Force Base will never be what it is today," said Sen. Graham.

No one wants to leave America defenseless. Nevadans have always been proud to host Nellis and other defense facilities. But this nation now spends more on fancy weapons systems and preparations for war than all the other nations combined. And 40 percent of that money is borrowed.

Yes, we remember Pearl Harbor. But today, the enormous federal debt and budget deficit pose a greater and more immediate threat to the nation's welfare than the likelihood of any foreign invasion.

The sequestration procedures - those automatic "Draconian cuts" of the Budget Control Act of 2011 - were supported by Arizona's Sen. McCain. They could cut about $917 billion in federal spending over a decade, including about $487 billion from defense. But less than one-eighth of that, $110 billion, would be slashed next year. Even with those cuts, 2013 defense spending would still exceed 2006 levels. To the best of our recollection, Nellis Air Force Base was here in 2006. The lights stayed on, the planes flew.

Nor are Nellis or Indian Springs mere sleepy, secondary facilities, kept alive as favors to some senior congressman. They're vital, and they can stand on their merits. In fact, the White House said last month that it would exempt military personnel from any of the cuts required by the new law.

No one wants to leave our troops without boots or ammunition. If those basics are at risk under these cuts, someone's priorities are skewed.

Every time an under-utilized military base has closed in this country, there has been howling about lost jobs. Yet most of those facilities now house private-sector employers generating more and better-paying jobs - with far fewer concerns that some politician can turn off the spigot at will.

Sequestration came into being back when Washington first moved to get its spending habit under control, with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. If it was an emergency 27 years ago, what is it today?

The senators deserve respect for their years of service, but scare tactics don't help. Their job is in Washington - cutting next year's budget by a lot more than $110 billion.