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Daily Archives: June 22, 2017
A new Hungarian liberal party challenges the autocratic Viktor Orban – The Economist
Posted: June 22, 2017 at 5:37 am
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In Trump Era, the Mean Streak of the Celebrity Liberal Is Out of Control – Heat Street
Posted: at 5:37 am
Want to understand what is wrong with the American left these days? WatchChelsea Handler rant on her Netflix show.
The progessive comicslatest painfully unfunny monologue was a full four minute rant ripping into Ivanka Trump, the President and even her own father, while neglecting to make a single coherent political point.
Like so many othersleft-leaning mainstream media pundits, newscasters, celebrities and comediansHandler uses vile language, puerile toilet humor, crass incest innuendo and utter disrespect not only toward the President and his daughter, but toward her own family. Yet her edginess is more desperate than most celebrity Resistance liberals.
This type of insulting language by progressives is so strikingly common nowadays that it no longer has any shock value. Once you strip away the facile attempt to be cool, edgy or hip by using insults and four-letter words all youre actually left with is an angry woman being crass, crude and downright disgusting.
Lets not pretend thatsneering diatribes by Handler and her ilk are anything new.Progressivism has dominated the media and driven popular culture ever since the 1960s.But the abuse has increased in its shrillness and shocking tone since Donald Trump became President.
What may have begun as questioning the status quo and the establishment has now descended into an all-out assault on civility, decency and morality. Anyone with a conservative viewpoint is considered a deserving target of the Lefts attack dogs.
Liberal celebrities now vent fury with smug, self-righteous glee on national TV, on newer venues like Netflix and Amazon, and in the old print media. In place of sophisticated political satire or any attempt at arguing ideas in an informed manner, the cultural apparatchiks of the media/entertainment complex have instead adopted the put-down tactics of 14 year old bullies.
They use lame insults and f-bombs to both amuse their fan base and to shut down any attempt at rational debate.
Some examples:
When in 2008 Sandra Bernhard expressed hope that Sarah Palin was gang raped in NYC by my black brothers. The Washington Post called itthe lefts favorite wordedgy! Now such sentiments are increasing in number and frequency.
Its not as if these celebrity interventions are effective. Doomed Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff enjoyed support from Samuel L. Jackson, Jane Fonda, George Takei and, of course, Handler. He still lost the Georgia House race. Ossoff even pathetically confessed to MSNBC s Nicole Wallace: Celebrities across the country? Thats not what animates people in Georgia.
Furthermore, these guilt-ridden pop-cultural progressive influencers of Western culture obscure the fact that they are part of an obscenely wealthy elite by directing envy and class rage away from themselves and onto anyone seen as promoting conservative values or beliefs.
Those who are untouched by the average persons reality preach to their audience that walls are wrong, before driving home to their gated communities or guarded mansions. Yet they believe that crass comments and personal insults make them down with the people.
Perhaps theyre hoping that if there is a real revolution, the starving masses will burn down their Beverly Hills and Hamptons homes last!
I keep hoping their followers will grow up and see the light; that Handler and Colbert and the others will check their own moral compass, mislaid by all that vile abuse, before prioritizing helping the poor, fighting injustice and making the world a better place.
But it seems that sneering cruel sarcastic variants of President Obamas 2008 comment that midwest voters cling to guns or religion are now the default setting in the battle of ideas.
Im not sure how we as a society deal with this kind of visceral hatred. But with every Handler rant and every Colbert crudity another brick drops from the wall that holds the center together. When that wall collapses no amount of sneering opinion pieces, foul-mouthed rants or abusive put-downs will be able to fix things.
The final irony is that the mega-rich wanna-be revolutionaries of the cultural-media class love to preach the virtues of positive discrimination but they might soon find out societal chaos is an equal opportunity destroyer of peoples lives.
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In Trump Era, the Mean Streak of the Celebrity Liberal Is Out of Control - Heat Street
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More Liberal Tears – Slate Magazine
Posted: at 5:37 am
Georgias 6th Congressional District Republican candidate Karen Handel gives a victory speech to supporters gathered at the Hyatt Regency on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
Im not going to lie: Im not surprised by Tuesday nights result in Georgias 6th Congressional District election, but I am gutted by it. Republican Karen Handel, author of a book about Planned Parenthood titled Planned Bullyhood, ran a repulsive campaign. Advertisements by her allies tied Democrat Jon Ossoff to black bloc anarchists, Muslim terrorists, Kathy Griffin, and the shooter of Rep. Steve Scalise. As Dave Weigel wrote in the Washington Post, The ad strategy, and the campaign visit from Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, have had almost nothing to say about what Republicans were working on in Washington. The message was that Republicans would feel terrible if they had to watch Democrats celebrate. It worked; running on a platform of MOAR LIBERAL TEARS, Handel won with 51.9 percent of the vote. Kellyanne Conway tweeted Laughing my #Ossoff.
Some liberals are putting an optimistic spin on things: Its a good sign for Dems, they argue, that Ossoff got as close as he did to victory in a district that hasnt voted blue since Jimmy Carter was president. This isnt wrong, but it doesnt make the loss less painful. An Ossoff victory might have scared Republicans into siding with the majority of Americans who disapprove of the disgusting man occupying the White House. It might have spooked some of them out of passing a bill to gut health insurance for tens of millions of Americans. It would have made it clear that as nightmarish as the Trump presidency has been, as much as every day since Trumps inauguration has been poisoned by his presence, help is on the way in the midterms.
Help may still be on the way. As Nate Silver reminds us, the improved Democratic margins in this years special elections are consistent with the sorts of results Democrats would expect if they were on track to compete for the House next year. But an emboldened Republican Party is going to do a lot of damage between now and then. One of the tireless women who campaigned for Ossoff was Carianne Muse, a working mother of three whose two youngest children were born with severe hearing loss. Both kids have had surgeries that cost over $100,000 apiece that have been covered by insurance, she told me. When I changed jobs I didnt have any pre-existing condition issues at all, [thanks to] Obamacare. But if I got fired tomorrow and we had a new law, Id be terrified.
Im reading a lot of complaints about the Ossoff campaign this morning. Some people, including some of Ossoffs own volunteers, say he should have hit Trump harder. Others say his loss proves that an anti-Trump message is not enough. Maybe another candidate or another strategy could have won, but I remain impressed by Ossoff, a 30-year-old first-time candidate who took everything the Republican Party could throw at him without losing his composure, and whose decent and hopeful campaign inspired thousands of volunteers to work their hearts out.
If theres any reason for optimism, its those volunteers, who assured me again and again that, whatever happened on Election Day, theyre not going anywhere. A refrain I heard several times was, Were just practicing for the midterms. If liberal funders were smart, theyd put money into some of the grass-roots groups that have sprung up in the 6th District to make sure they dont wither in wake of Ossoffs defeat. Earlier, I wrote about Jessica Zeigler, a working mother of three who started a program to train recent high school graduates to mobilize their social networks for voter outreach. Someone should be paying her to do this full-time in every congressional district in Georgia. Zeigler is devastated, but she texted me, Friends are already organizing data-based feedback forms and strategy meetings. So we are resilient. Lets hope the country is, too.
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How liberal minds closed on immigration, raising kids as … – New York Post
Posted: at 5:37 am
From the left: How Liberal Minds Closed on Immigration
The Atlantics Peter Beinart says liberals views on immigration were far more hardline just a decade ago. He points out that liberals publicly questioned immigration in ways that would shock many progressives today. A big reason for the change, according to Beinart, was political: Between 2008 and 2016, Democrats became more and more confident that the countrys growing Latino population gave the party an electoral edge. He also stresses the necessity of encouraging cohesion between immigrants and native-born citizens. Promoting assimilation need not mean expecting immigrants to abandon their culture. But it does mean breaking down the barriers that segregate them from the native-born. And it means celebrating Americas diversity less, and its unity more.
Paleocon: Raising a Generation of Authoritarians
According to The American Conservatives Pratik Chougule, Americas increasingly suffocating helicopter-parenting is teaching future generations the wrong lessons about American values. Whether or not an authoritarian scenario unfolds in the United States could depend on childrearing trends. Indeed, social scientists have long argued that the origins of authoritarian societies can be discerned in childhood pathologies, he writes. He points to last years election: Those who believe that is more important for children to be respectful rather than independent; obedient over self-reliant; well-behaved more than considerate; and well-mannered versus curious, were more than two and a half times as likely to support [Donald] Trump than those with the opposite preferences.
From the campaign trail: Lessons From Georgias Special
Talking Points Memo editor Josh Marshall admits that, for Democrats, Jon Ossoffs special-election loss in Georgia to Karen Handel is a big disappointment. But its not cause for a total rethinking of his partys electoral strategy. After all, it is one of a string of special elections in which Democrats have dramatically over-performed in Republican districts. And even though Dems didnt win any of those, if you apply the trend to the full House of Representatives, not just GOP safe seats, it suggests Democrats are quite likely to take the House next year. His takeaway: Even though Republicans have lost substantial ground and are operating in a tough environment theyve nevertheless been able to mobilize money and partisan affiliation to hold on in tight races. That cant be ignored. Its also very significant.
From the right: Putin Proves We Cant Abandon Syria
Russias threats in response to the downing of a Syrian aircraft shows why America cant leave, Paul Mirengoff writes at Power Line: Putin intends to help Assad and Iran dominate post-ISIS Syria. Mirengoff faults President Barack Obama for not standing up to previous Russian intimidation tactics. President Trump should not let Vladimir Putin tell him where the US can and cannot fly. He should not let Putin, on behalf of his friends in Iran, shut the US out of the end-game against ISIS and the post-ISIS jockeying for control. Even if Trump decides against a full-on ground invasion, he certainly should be willing to protect through air power the ground forces friendly to our interests.
Culture critic: Deafening Silence on Warmbiers Torture
Otto Warmbier, the American college student imprisoned and tortured by North Korea who died this week after being returned to his parents in a coma, was active in his campus Jewish community. Yet Jewish groups, the Anti-Defamation League chief among them, were all but silent on Warmbiers ordeal. Asks Tablets Liel Liebovitz: Why? Liebovitz points out that Warmbier had aroused not sympathy but angry attacks from the social-justice left: When the young college student was arrested last year, the regressive lefts flagships, from Salon to the blessedly defunct Nightly Show, gleefully mocked Warmbier, arguing that white privilege was the real reason for his predicament. Such bigotry is toxic to all Americans, but its particularly hazardous to Jews, whose suffering is too often explained away these days as an acceptable byproduct of excessive power and influence. All of which makes Jewish groups silence on Warmbiers murder shameful. Compiled by Brendan Clarey & Seth Mandel
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How liberal minds closed on immigration, raising kids as ... - New York Post
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Former Abbott and Turnbull adviser Andrew Hirst to lead Liberals … – The Guardian
Posted: at 5:37 am
Tony Abbott (right) speaks with his then adviser Andrew Hirst in parliament in 2015. Hirst is to be come the next president of the Liberal party on Friday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Former political staffer Andrew Hirst appears set to become the new federal director of the Liberal party, and is expected to be anointed to the position at the partys federal executive meeting on Friday.
Liberal sources on Wednesday confirmed Hirst was expected to get the nod to run the partys next federal campaign.
Hirst has been a longtime backroom operative, and has worked for all party leaders since the Howard era, including for both Malcolm Turnbull in opposition, and Tony Abbott in government.
In recent times he has worked for the Liberal partys preferred pollster, Crosby Textor, running the firms Canberra operation.
Andrew Bragg has been acting in the role of party director since the departure earlier this year of Tony Nutt, but some party officials regard him as lacking the requisite hands-on experience in campaigns to head up the federal organisation on a permanent basis.
A critical review of the Liberal partys last federal campaign by former party director and federal minister Andrew Robb has identified a number of problems which culminated in Malcolm Turnbull almost losing the election.
The Robb review found the government was flying blind for key periods after Tony Abbott assumed power in 2013 right through to the 2016 federal election, because the research and data analytics functions were severely under-resourced.
The review found the Liberals were outgunned on the ground by Labor and progressive activist groups, and failed to develop a strategy to neutralise or rebut key attack themes, like the so-called Mediscare campaign.
It also criticised the lack of concrete policy sitting behind the Coalitions jobs and growth campaign slogan, and a lack of attention to defining political opponents, noting that a campaign for re-election needed to be formulated during the whole parliamentary term of government.
Hirst who served in Liberal party HQ during the last federal election will take the reins at a time when the party will be looking to sharpen its field operation, analytics and its digital campaigning.
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Former Abbott and Turnbull adviser Andrew Hirst to lead Liberals ... - The Guardian
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Liberal mosque in Berlin draws criticism – Deutsche Welle
Posted: at 5:37 am
Sunnis, Shiites, Alevis, members of the LGTBQ community - all are welcome at the Friday prayer service at the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque in Berlin. The organization, which holds its services inside the St. Johannis Church in the area of Moabit, has sparked criticism since a DW report on its founder, women's rights activist Seyran Ates, who established the institution despite fierce resistance.
Reports about the liberal mosque found their way into several newspapers in the Muslim world. The pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah called it "absurd" that services took place inside a church. Another newspaper, Yeniakit, labeled Ates a Kurdish supporter of the controversial cleric Fethullah Gulen. And Daily Pakistan criticized the fact that women took part in prayer services unveiled.
'No conception of religion'
Men and uncovered women praying together, and presided over by a female imam on top of it? For some in the Muslim world, that's simply going too far. "They're creating a new religion, that's not Islamic," commented one DW user. "These people are not following the religion of our prophet. They have no conception of the religion. What idiocy," commented another.
DW Arabic's report garnered more than 1.7 million clicks by Monday afternoon.
"Our article drew quite an impassioned response," said Tarek Anegay, who works in DW Arabic's social media department.
Many users were outraged by what they saw as a contradiction of Islamic doctrine.
DW Arabic expected such reactions. "When it comes to anything that concerns the traditional, conservative code of Islam, people tend to act very sensitively and suspiciously," said Anegay.
A Western conspiracy
A key debate raging within the Muslim community concerns the lack of equality between men and women, along with the appropriateness of women not covering their heads during prayer. The concept of a female imam remains a special taboo, Anegay said. Many Muslims look at such attempts to liberalize their religion and see a conspiracy concocted by the West against Islam.
"The high number of Muslims frightens Europe, and for that reason the Europeans are attempting to market a new form of Islam that conforms to life in Europe," wrote Manhal al-Ahmad on DW's Arabic Facebook page. "I believe that they won't achieve their goal. In the end they will give up and eventually come to understand that this fight against this religion was wrong."
The impression still exists in Muslim countries that the West wants to impose its lifestyle on the Muslim world, according to Rainer Sollich, head of DW Arabic's online department. "Those who oppose all reformist ideas within Islam are also taking advantage of this agenda," he said. "It's a very populist agenda. It works, because many people in the Muslim world are jumping on it and many genuinely feel that way."
Emotional discussion
The tone of the commentary is at its core very emotional and aggressive, said social media editor Anegay. Editors often have to intervene, even having to remove verbal abuse, threats and defamation. "We counted more than 15,000 comments, but we had to delete a lot of them," Anegay said.
Seyran Ates is the woman behind the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque
In Rainer Sollich's view, many in the Muslim world in general don't take into consideration reforms or any critical examination of their faith. But there is a growing realization of the changes that are needed. "Today may seem strange to us, but perhaps it won't be so unusual in a few years," one user commented. "A Christian woman in the West is allowed to be a pastor. Why do people not have the right to be what they want to be?" another said.
Egypt's highest Islamic authority responds
On Monday, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, the Egyptian government body that weighs in on religious or legal matters that divide Muslim believers, responded to the controversy, as reported by Egyptian news outlet Al-Shabab. "In prayer, gender segregation cannot be lifted," the office declared. The proximity between men and women in the mosque is not allowed, as it clearly violates Sharia, or Islamic law, according to the office.
"Such controversies are part of our reporting," said Anegay. "We understand that many Arab users aren't going to like them. But everyone has the right to interpret their faith the way they see fit, as long as they take into account the rights and dignity of other people. The people saw the report and felt attacked, but they didn't take the time to question themselves." Anegay thinks back to a famous line from an Islamic philosopher: The road to faith goes through questions.
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BC throne speech marks beginning of the end for provincial Liberal government – CTV News
Posted: at 5:37 am
VICTORIA - British Columbia's politicians will return to the legislature in Victoria today, marking the beginning of the end for the minority Liberal government.
Premier Christy Clark's Liberals have recently announced a number of campaign-style promises that will be included in today's throne speech, including hikes for welfare rates, reforms to campaign financing and new money for childcare.
Clark said yesterday that the party heard from voters during this spring's campaign that social issues and political fundraising reforms are major concerns and the government is now prepared to act on them.
But New Democrat house leader Mike Farnworth says the Liberal's promises are acts of desperation from a party that simply wants to stay in power.
The election on May 9 gave B.C. its first minority government in 65 years, with the Liberals winning 43 seats, the NDP 41 and the Greens three.
Following the vote, the NDP and Greens signed an agreement to vote against the Liberals in an upcoming confidence vote, ending 16 years of Liberal rule and clearing the path for a minority New Democrat government.
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BC throne speech marks beginning of the end for provincial Liberal government - CTV News
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Can Vince Cable help the Liberal Democrats find themselves? – The Guardian
Posted: at 5:37 am
Popular mythology suggests Vince Cable regretted ruling himself out in 2007 on the grounds of age. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
So Vince Cable has finally done what he kicked himself for years about not doing before, when he first had the chance. He is standing for the Lib Dem leadership.
Popular mythology suggests he enjoyed himself as interim leader after Menzies Campbells resignation in 2007, and regretted ruling himself out on the grounds of age.
He had managed to wound Gordon Browns premiership with a number of well-hewn quips at the dispatch box, thought up in the bath, and believed he could do it.
That was a decade ago, as the banking crisis struck. Ironically, he is now 74, and six years older than Campbell was when he stepped down because commentators were afraid he was too old.
Cable wont have a clear run. Jo Swinson, a former business minister, is believed to have been asked to run as leader by most of the 12-strong parliamentary party. But she ruled herself out on the grounds that she has a young family.
Ed Davey, the former energy secretary, might reasonably be expected to stand. So might Norman Lamb, a highly successful health minister and advocate of mental health services.
Cable has some advantages. He is immediately recognisable, and is one of the handful of politicians recognised primarily by their first name (Ken, Boris). He had a good track record on the financial crash, which he is credited with having foreseen.
Even his faux pas being secretly recorded slagging off the Murdoch press when he was supposed to be in a position of quasi-judicial impartiality seemed to rebound in his favour. He looked not just human, but also concerned.
He is thoughtful and practical and was successful as business secretary, turbo-charging a new generation of apprenticeships and the new Catapult centres, which were designed to enable the UK to innovate, and which provided the bones of a new industrial strategy.
His disadvantage is his deep reserve. He has some charisma, but none of Nick Cleggs bonhomie, which means his success depends on the public projecting their hopes on to him rather than their fears.
The real divisions within the Lib Dems are not well understood by outsiders. The old Orange Book v the Social Liberals debate was more like an insiders-v-outsiders spat in the coalition years.
The Orange Book itself was a call for a balance between different kinds of freedom a much-needed reconsideration of a sort of faux Fabianism, but in practice offering little new. But then neither were the Social Liberals.
The real division, which is only partly a result of the 1988 merger between the Liberal party and the SDP is the divide between Liberals and Social Democrats.
In those days, it was the Liberals who carried the radical torch, the so-called beards and sandals. Last week, the Liberal humorist Jonathan Calder described the men in sandals coming for Tim Farron, like the mythical men in grey suits in the Conservative party.
The truth is that beards and sandals have long since disappeared from Lib Dem conferences and it is sometimes hard to discern a Liberal radicalism that isnt just the usual watered-down Fabianism.
Cable fits awkwardly into this division. He has gone from being the great advocate of conventional trade in the partys policy debate to being an angry campaigner against free market excess.
The great divisions in the party leadership during the coalition years, during which he was urged to challenge Clegg for the leadership, grew out of a disagreement about the correct attitude to banks during the crisis.
As business secretary, Cable was locked in mortal combat with the Treasury, which wanted to minimise the discomfort for conventional banking. There were those, mainly on the SDP wing of the party, where Cable comes from, who felt that the coalition was being too soft on the semi-criminal elements of UK banking.
He was right in that argument, as it turns out. We may have a safer banking system in the UK thanks to the coalition, but we still have a largely dysfunctional one.
In that respect alone, he might deserve the party crown. But whoever wins it has to rise to this intellectual challenge, laid down for the party by the rise of Jeremy Corbyn: what is Liberalism for if it isnt a pale reflection of failed Fabianism?
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Air Force leaders continue to emphasize air and space priorities on Capitol Hill – Air Force Link
Posted: at 5:37 am
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein briefed congressional leaders on the Senates Defense Appropriations Committee on the future of air and space power during testimony on Capitol Hill June 21.
The leaders highlighted that efforts to restore readiness and increase the lethality of the force were foremost in their minds. Wilson said any objective evaluation of todays Air Force reached two conclusions: The Air Force is too small for what the nation expects of it and adversaries are modernizing and innovating faster putting Americans technological advantage at risk.
"The fiscal year 2017 budget began to arrest the decline, and restore the readiness of the force, so this fiscal 2018 budget starts us, I hope, on the road to recovery, she said. Air Force in Demand
Looking forward, Wilson and Goldfein do not envision the demand for air and space power diminishing in the coming decade.
Today, the Air Force is manned with 660,000 active, Guard, Reserve and civilian Airmen, a 30 percent decline since Operation Desert Storm 26 years ago.
"If I'd been talking to the Air Force in 1991, I'd [have] been looking at an Air Force of over 8,600 aircraft, 134 fighter squadrons from which we deployed 34, Goldfein said. Today, the grand total of your United States Air Force, active, Guard, Reserve, is 55 squadrons total. This is a much smaller force that's engaged in the same level of activity as we were in 1991."
The Air Force leaders said while the fiscal 2018 budget request focuses on restoring readiness and increasing lethality, future budgets must focus on modernization and continued readiness recovery.
Restoring readiness
The two testified that maintaining superiority starts with people.
"For Airmen, it's nothing short of a moral obligation to ensure that we establish air superiority quickly whenever and wherever it's required," Goldfein said.
The fiscal 2018 budget will bring the active duty force from 321,000 to 325,100 while also adding 800 Reservists, 600 Guardsmen, and 3,000 civilians, bringing the total force to approximately 669,000. The increased manpower will focus primarily on increasing remotely piloted aircraft crews, maintainers and pilot training capacity by adding two additional F-16 training squadrons and maximizing flying hours to the highest executable levels.
Wilson said next to people, the most obvious readiness need is munitions. In the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the Air Force has delivered approximately 56,000 direct-attack munitions, more than it used in all of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The fiscal 2018 budget funds maximum factory production of the most critical munitions. Modernization
The fiscal 2018 budget focuses on the Air Forces top three modernization programs:
Purchasing 46 F-35A Lightning II fighters and modernizing other fighters; Buying 15 KC-46 Pegasus tankers; Funding the B-21 Raider bomber development
The proposed budget also supports the continuation and modernization of the nuclear triad with funds dedicated to both air- and ground-based capabilities.
Our nuclear enterprise is getting old and we must begin modernizing now to ensure a credible deterrent, Wilson said.
"Standing side-by-side with the United States Navy, we're responsible for two of the three legs of the nuclear triad, Goldfein said. "On our worst day as a nation, our job is to make sure that we have the commander in chief where he needs to be, when he needs to be there, and through nuclear command and control - which we're responsible for - that he stays connected to a ready force to be able to defend this nation and deter adversaries as we also assure our partners."
Space
The Air Force has been the leading military service responsible since 1954. Over the last several years, the service has been developing concepts for space control, changing the way it trains its space force and integrating space operations into the joint fight.
"This budget proposal has a 20 percent increase for space, that means situational awareness -- the ability to not just catalog what's up there, which we would do in a benign environment, but to have a near-real-time understanding of what is going on in space, who is moving and where they're moving to," said Wilson.
The proposed budget increases space funding, including a 27 percent increase in research, development, testing and evaluation for space systems, and a 12 percent increase for space procurement.
On June 16, 2017, Wilson announced the establishment of the new headquarters space directorate. This directorate will be led by the deputy chief of staff for space operations, who will be the advocate for space operations and requirements to meet the demands of a warfighting domain.
"Weve provided GPS for the world. Weve transformed not only the way we fight but the way all of you probably navigate around the city, Wilson added. We must expect that war, of any kind, will extend into space in any future conflict, and we have to change the way we think and prepare for that eventuality.
Innovation for the future
Research, development, testing and evaluation are critically important for the Air Force, Wilson and Goldfein said.
To prevail against rapidly innovating adversaries, the Air Force must accelerate procurement. The service will take advantage of authorities provided in the fiscal 2017 Defense Authorization Act to help field operational capabilities faster than ever before, Wilson said.
The request for funding for long-term research in air dominance increased significantly in the fiscal 2018 budget. The Air Force will seek to increase basic and applied research in areas where it must maintain the competitive advantage over adversaries. This includes hypersonic vehicles, directed-energy, unmanned and autonomous systems and nanotechnology.
Budget stability
Its going to take approximately eight years to be able to get to full spectrum readiness with stable budgets, Goldfein said. The Air Force will be unable to execute the defense strategic guidance under sequester.
If the Budget Control Act limit is not fixed and we have to go through sequester, that will be equivalent to a $15 billion cut, Wilson said. The Air Force is too small for what the nation expects of us now; sequestration would make the situation worse, she said.
According to Wilson and Goldfein, by supporting the budget request, Congress can provide fiscal predictability to the Air Force so it can continue to own the high ground, defend the homeland and project power in conjunction with allies.
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Air Force leaders continue to emphasize air and space priorities on Capitol Hill - Air Force Link
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Report: House Panel May Delay Fiscal 2018 Budget Resolution as Republicans Eye Higher Defense Spending – ExecutiveGov
Posted: at 5:37 am
The House Budget Committee may delay the release of its fiscal 2018 budget proposal until the last week of June or after the July 4threcess as Republicans seek to boost defense spending above the White Houses proposed $54 billion increase in defense funds, The Hill reported Monday.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), a member of the House Budget Committee, said he forecasts that the budget resolution will be higher than the administrations budget request.
The Trump administration proposed to cut nondefense discretionary spending by $54 billion in order to fund increases to the defense budget for fiscal 2018.
House Freedom Caucus members consider supporting increases to the defense budget by another $37 billion and higher nondefense spending levels without proposing additional budget reductions elsewhere.
Conservatives are willing to entertain the idea of voting for higher spending levels on discretionary spending if we can get the right kind of reconciliation instructions, said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a member of the Freedom Caucus.
The Hill reported such reconciliation instructions would call for congressional panels to attain certain budget cuts.
House Republicans are expected to negotiate a strategy for the budget resolution on its upcoming meeting Wednesday, the report added.
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