Congressional Republicans are attempting to undo cuts to the military budget mandated by last fall’s across-the-board “sequestration” process. The failure of the debt ceiling debate to produce a deficit-reduction plan triggered, among other things, a required $492 billion in military cuts over the next decade.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., along with Florida Republican Rep. Ander Crenshaw, in December introduced the Down Payment to Protect National Security Act that would require a 10 percent cut in the federal workforce as an alternative to the first year of military cuts.

The California Republican received the largest number of donations from defense contractors in Congress.

Working Assets is circulating a petition to tell Congress not to roll back the cuts in defense spending. The petition can be signed here.

Working Assets says, “It’s undeniable that we have a grotesquely bloated military budget. Even with the reductions, the United States will be on track to spend more on defense than the next 10 countries combined.”

In addition, Republicans have been howling about proposals for trimming the Pentagon budget put forward by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and President Obama.

However these proposed “cuts” are not cuts at all but rather a slowing in the rate of the Defense Depatrment’s budget increase.

“The administration’s 10-year plan” writes defenseprof.com, “actually calls for an increase in the national security budget over the next decade – but it would scale back the 18 percent boost previously set for that period.”

But don’t bother Republican defense hawks with the facts.

Sen.Carl Levin, D-Mich., believes the GOP might buckle under the threat of the cuts. Levin said that the threat of $500 billion in automatic cuts to defense spending will force Republicans to drop their opposition to including tax hikes to finance deficit reduction, writes thehill.com.

The Hill reported: “Levin said the cuts to defense and domestic discretionary spending mandated by last summer’s debt-ceiling deal, known as the sequester, must be kept together to have that effect, and voiced opposition to recent efforts by Republicans to undo the process for a year.”

Levin had McKeon’s bill in mind.

Tell the GOP the cuts in military spending must stay in place! And while you’re at it, tell them it’s way past time the rich pay their fare share!

Photo: (Creative Commons 2.0