The Administration made its critical mistake in March 1993 when it announced sweeping defense cuts before determining what those cuts would mean in reality. Time after time thereafter, the Clinton team has calculated the military requirements only to find that the programmed resources would not cover them. Unwilling to correct the basic mistake, the Administration's method has been to recompute the requirements and to cover some of the holes by moving money around. Unfortunately, he said, the only way to pay for it was to take money from other accounts, primarily from force modernization. As Deputy Secretary of Defense John M. Deutch explains it, though, matters are now in hand.
National defense is a partnership.
The President is Commander in Chief. He also submits the defense budget proposal each year. The Constitution, however, charges Congress with the responsibility to raise and support the armed forces. Many of Mr. Clinton's partners in Congress believe that things have gone wrong. Not all of those concerned are Republicans.