Defense Cuts: "Not In My Backyard"

By PAUL GRAY/

Congress keeps insisting on cuts in the defense budget, but one of the biggest obstacles is the schizophrenia on Capitol Hill: members who fight a rear-guard defense to prevent the Pentagon from cutting weapons made in their districts. Last week Les Aspin, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, announced his opposition to the B-2 Stealth bomber. But other costly programs that Defense Secretary Dick Cheney wants to kill are being protected for pork- barrel rather than military reasons. Here are Cheney's multi-year savings estimates and the reasons they may not be realized:

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With reporting by DAVID ELLIS