IPS: Influential, Far Left “Think Tank” Proposes Deep Defense Cuts
The far left, Washington DC based Institute for Policy Studies has produced a shopping list of proposed defense cuts for the Obama Administration.
IPS comments on a report issued by Lawrence Korb of the George Soros funded Center for American Progress, and IPSer Miriam Pemberton:
In case anyone in Congress is looking for a quick $77 billion in savings, we thought it would be good to list the proposed reductions to the 2012 fiscal year’s military budget in the Unified Security Budget task force report that IPS released last month:
1. National Missile Defense: Cease further Missile Defense development but retain a basic technology program to determine if NMD is technically feasible, generating $3.6 billion in savings.
2. Virginia Class Submarine: Cancel production of the second SSN-744 Virginia Class submarine in FY2012 and in subsequent years, saving $2.41 billion in 2012 and $11.32 billion through 2016.
3. V-22 Osprey: Cancel the V-22 Osprey program for savings of $2.79 billion in FY2012.
4. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: Cut the Navy and Marine Corps versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program, and reduce procurement for Air Force version by half, saving $5.6 billion.
5. Personnel: Reduce the number of active-duty personnel stationed in Europe and Asia, allowing for savings of $6.5 billion in 2012.
6. Nuclear Forces: Reduce nuclear weapons arsenal to 292 deployed weapons and 19 in reserve and eliminate the Trident II nuclear missile, generating $21 billion in savings.
7. Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation: Reduce RDT&E across the board from $74.3 to $65.3 billion, saving $10 billion.
8. Force Structure: Cut two active component air wings, two carrier battle groups and their associated air wings from the Air Force for an annual savings of $8 billion.
9. Waste and Inefficiencies: Use waste and efficiency savings identified across the department to reduce the budget saving $20 billion.
This is no mere leftie “wish list.”
The Institute for Policy Studies has served as an ideas factory for several Democratic Administrations – particularly during the Carter years and to a lesser degree under Clinton.
Barack Obama himself helped set up an IPS partner organization in 1999/2000, the New York based Demos.
It was IPS that first suggested (before Obama had even won the 2008 election) that Obama hire radical communist Van Jones as his “Green Jobs Czar.” Van Jones was also, like Obama, a Demos trusteee.
After Jones was exposed (initially by this blog) and left the White House under considerable media pressure, he ended up working for the Center for American Progress.
In my opinion, Center for American Progress is the implementation wing -a mechanism for infiltrating ‘progressive’ staffers and radical ideas into the Obama administration.
My bet is that most, if not all of IPS’s proposed defense cuts, WILL become Obama Administration policy.
Any takerS?
The full report, by Korb and Pemberton can be viewed here.
More fine work by Mr. Loudon , thank you .
For the best history of the Institute for Policy Studies, see S. Steven Powell’s masterful work, “Covert Cadre: Inside the Institute for Policy Studies”,, intro. by David Horowitz, Green Hill, 1987.
It has functioned as a Soviet/KGB and Castro/DGI conduit into the U.S. Congress, media, and academia since the 1960′s. They were also a major ideas force behind the “Hanoi Lobby” with their Richard Barnett being one of Hanoi’s top supporters.
They were also involved in the Letelier affair, helping to give him academic/scholarly cover for his propaganda operations in the U.S. until he was killed by a bomb (along with Ronnie Karpen Moffitt, of the IPS).
Funding came from many liberal and leftist foundations including the Stewart Mott Foundation, Stern Foundation, and the Samuel Rubin Foundation (an old CPUSA member and possible Soviet agent of influence as far back as the Spanish Civil War).
“Covert Cadre: Inside the Institute for Policy Studies”,, intro. by David Horowitz, Green Hill, 1987. Seems to be out of print.
Any book, no matter when published, that reveals how the soviets/communists worked covertly infiltrating the USA will still be relevant today. Why? Because, for obvious reasons, their m.o.’s have been and still are effective.
They have so deeply infiltrated our political, education, and media systems that their cover is basically in-built today.
Read “Witness” by Whittaker Chambers. An education in itself into the covert operations in America in the 1930′s; also probably still relevant today.