Obama Must Slash Defense Budget: Study

Between the financial crisis, galloping budget deficits, and shifting military priorities, a Pentagon advisory group is warning that the military's current budget is “not sustainable,” and the new administration will have to choose where to make cuts, the Boston Globe reports. Weapons projects that are already billions over budget and years overdue are likely to get the ax.

The military is committed to an increase in force size, and there’s no getting around “people costs” like salaries and health care. “Taking cuts at the margin won't work this time,” a Pentagon document warns, “nor will pushing things off to later years.” Trimming big-ticket projects, however, will surely be politically unpopular in constituencies that stand to suffer economically as a result. (More Pentagon stories.)