|
 |
 |
|
Obama knocks Romney military spending boost in tax critique
President Obama criticized Mitt Romney’s plan to boost military spending as part of an attack on the GOP challenger's tax policy during Wednesday's debate.
Obama said Romney is proposing a $2 trillion increase in military spending and said it is something that "the Pentagon has not asked for.”
Obama made the comment as he argued Romney was proposing a $5 trillion tax cut that would raise the deficit.
Romney pushed back hard against the $5 trillion tax cut, but he did not address the military side of the president’s charge.
Romney has called for an increase in military spending, including boosting the number of U.S. troops by 100,000 and increasing shipbuilding rates.
Romney launched into his own criticism of Obama's military plans in his closing argument, which he concluded by saying that if the president is re-elected there will be dramatic cuts to the military, something he would not do.
Obama’s claim that the Pentagon “does not want” the additional spending is reflective of him being the commander in chief. The Pentagon is planning to reduce its budgets $487 billion as part of the Budget Control Act that the White House and Congress agreed to last year.
Obama again referenced military spending when he talked about the “two wars that were not paid for,” referencing the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, in explaining why the debt has gone up.
— This post was updated at 10:45 p.m.
