The July 23 article “Big defense firms faring well despite budget cuts” and the July 24 Federal Diary column “Even with financial help, ‘the most vulnerable’ workers can barely handle the furloughs” spoke to the misplaced priorities in the application of federal budget cuts. However, what seems to be lost in the discussion over the reduction in federal civilian workers’ time and pay, for the benefit of large-scale weapons acquisition, is the very real impact those cuts are having on essential government functions and on our moral standing.
Case in point: Defense Department civilian health-care workers must also reduce their hours by 20 percent, which means active-duty troops, particularly wounded warriors, are receiving less timely and complete care. We talk a great deal about supporting our troops, but when it is an actual choice between corporate profits and providing our service members returning from war with the care they need, our actions fail to match our rhetoric.
Matthew P. Hoh, Washington
The writer is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.