Center for American Progress

PRESS CALL: Achieving Primary Balance Without Compromising Our National Security
Press Advisory

PRESS CALL: Achieving Primary Balance Without Compromising Our National Security

Washington, D.C. — There are difficult budget decisions ahead for our country. And as presidents from Eisenhower to Obama have recognized, our national security is directly tied to the health of our economy. Trimming the defense budget in a sensible way can help the nation achieve a balanced budget by FY 2015 without compromising vital national security interests. In a new paper Lawrence Korb and Laura Conley propose 18 specific areas where savings could be achieved, for a total of approximately $109 billion in the FY 2015 defense budget. Those areas include: redirecting savings from Secretary Gates’ efficiency initiative to reduce the overall federal budget; gradually rolling back the growth in the ground forces since September 11, 2001; and canceling or scaling back a number of defense acquisition programs.

Please join the Center for American Progress’s Lawrence Korb and Michael Ettlinger to discuss the new paper on a media conference call this Thursday, September 23, at 11:00 a.m. EST. This report describes in detail a package of spending cuts designed to bring the defense budget closer to balance without undermining our vital national security needs.

Who:

Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow, the Center for American Progress

Michael Ettlinger, Vice President for Economic Policy, the Center for American Progress

What: Media conference call to discuss how defense budget cuts can help achieve primary balance by 2015 without compromising vital national security interests.

When: Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. EST

Call info: 877.210.8943

Conference ID: 12876891

RSVP: Please contact Anna Soellner at 202.478.5322 or [email protected] to RSVP to the call.

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