Not Going Away

Over the past several weeks our in-depth survey of Americans’ attitudes toward defense spending has taken root in the public conversation about the Pentagon’s role in debt reduction.  On Sunday, our own Matthew Leatherman appeared on This Week in Defense News to underscore one of the survey’s main findings:

Preferences that respondents expressed were similar to, but stricter than, the Pentagon’s strategy and spending plan.

Continuing in a companion Defense News op-ed published today, Matthew noted the consequence of this public opinion:

Whenever they return to the negotiating table, Congress and the administration will find national defense strategy and spending still squarely on it. The good news is that respondents think the Pentagon is on the right path. But its work is far from done.

This is not news, of course, to Will + Wallet faithful.  The table won’t be fully set until after November’s election but, when it is, a deal that includes additional defense savings is likely to be served up soon thereafter.