CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR MORE DETAILS ON POTENTIAL BUDGET CUTS

Tight budgets were a constant theme during yesterday’s House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing, especially with the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction considering massive cuts across the federal government. But Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) chastised the Administration, and the officials at yesterday’s hearing, for not being more upfront about the potential impact of more budget cuts on the nation’s nuclear deterrent, suggesting “At some point along the line we’re going to have to make some tough decisions,” said Garamendi, whose district includes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. “The sooner we have that information the more thorough the debate will be and quite possibly the better the result. But ignorance is not a good way to proceed, and we’re proceeding with a high level of ignorance. … You’ve all talked about it but you’ve not given us one piece of information about what a cut could be in your area other than it’s going to be bad.”