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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Gates Calls for a Major Overhaul in Defense Spending

    Yesterday was supposed to be "bloody Monday" for the defense industry, but its stocks rallied as Defense Secretary Gates outlined his latest budget . The US spends more on the military services, arms and equipment than the rest of the world's nations combined.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Yesterday was supposed to be "bloody Monday" for the defense industry, but its stocks rallied as Defense Secretary Gates outlined his latest budget. The US spends more on the military services, arms and equipment than the rest of the world's nations combined. Despite cuts in high-profile projects, Pentagon spending may go up, because, as one analyst said, "For everything they took away, they added something else." The debate will be about conventional warfare versus counterinsurgencies like those in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about jobs in congressional districts.

    Image: Marine Gen. James Cartwright (R), vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answers a question during yesterday's press conference with Defense Secretary Gates. DoD photo: Cherie Cullen

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Wars of the Future and the Wars of the Past
    1. 1:35Obama's Unscheduled Visit to Iraq
    2. 7:22Gates Calls for a Major Overhaul in Defense SpendingYou’re reading this
    3. 43:01Vermont Legislators Override Governor, Legalize Gay Marriage
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      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

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      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

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      Karen Radziner

      Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

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      Christian Bordal

      Managing Producer, Greater LA

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      Spencer Ackerman

      Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of “Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump”

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      Winslow Wheeler

      Center for Defense Information

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      Richard Aboulafia

      managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Wars of the Future and the Wars of the Past
    1. 1:35Obama's Unscheduled Visit to Iraq
    2. 7:22Gates Calls for a Major Overhaul in Defense SpendingYou’re reading this
    3. 43:01Vermont Legislators Override Governor, Legalize Gay Marriage
    Back to To the Point