Cutting through the Sequestration Smoke

Our own Gordon Adams has argued that the defense industry’s claims about job losses that would result from sequestration are wildly exaggerated. Although defense industry executives have been some of the most vocal doomsayers, apparently other executives within the industry agree with Gordon’s perspective. As a recent article in Defense News points out:

But the magnitude of the cuts — millions of jobs, according to the AIA, and the industry’s destruction — is overblown, according to several senior industry executives. Even some of the declarations about the complete lack of guidance on how sequestration would be implemented are excessive, one senior executive said. “It’s not that complicated,” the executive said. “There’s a little drama being played out. There’s a little fire for effect being played out.”

Considering that sequestration's purpose is to be so unappealing that it forces Congress to reach agreement on deficit reduction, it is unsurprising that defense industry executives have joined Pentagon officials and members of Congress in describing the effects of sequestration in the worst possible light. Yet as the quoted executive notes, what we’re seeing is a drama—a shadow play, if you will—rather than a serious, substantive policy debate.