Defense Dollars and Sense

Download or read book Defense Dollars and Sense written by Common Cause (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed to increase public awareness of military spending, this 5-part guide examines the process and problems of preparing the national defense budget. The publication begins with a brief overview of the 1984 defense budget. Major military programs, trends in budgeting, and key concerns in budget formulation are explored. Graphs and charts clarify budget appropriations. Section 2 presents seven steps in the ideal budgeting process: defense guidance, service budget requests, the secretary's budget request, the president's budget request, the congressional defense budget ceiling, defense authorization, and defense appropriation. Sections 3 and 4 focus on problems that originate with the executive branch of government and the Congress. Some of the issues are weaknesses in the structure of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, interservice rivalry, overemphasis on weapons, pork barrel legislation, lobbying pressures from the defense industry and defense department, and presidential and congressional oversight. The final section outlines a program of defense budget reform that includes setting more realistic goals, improving cost estimating, reforming the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and strengthening Congressional review. Appendices contain a list of key sources for defense budget research, members of key congressional committees, and a 2-page bibliography. (LP)