# Liberty Movement > Defenders of Liberty > Justin Amash Forum >  Massie, Amash join bipartisan group in calling for cuts to Pentagon

## tsai3904

Letter sent to the President and Congressional leaders:




> December 10, 2012
> 
> The Honorable Barack Obama
> The Honorable John Boehner
> The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
> The Honorable Harry Reid
> The Honorable Mitch McConnell
> 
> Dear President Obama and Congressional Leaders,
> ...


*Republicans*
Mick Mulvaney
Tom McClintock
Morgan Griffith
Justin Amash
Raúl Labrador
Timothy Johnson
Chris Gibson
Reid Ribble
Thomas Massie
Dan Benishek
Scott Garrett

*Democrats*
Keith Ellison
Barbara Lee
Michael Honda
Jared Polis
James Moran
Barney Frank
Jerrold Nadler
Kurt Schrader
Edward Markey
Gwen Moore
Lynn Woolsey

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## sailingaway

Didn't Walter Jones sign those when Ron was still in? Or am I misremembering?

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## torchbearer

wonder what their scorecards look like?
I finally have a list of good house republicans:



> Mick Mulvaney
> Tom McClintock
> Morgan Griffith
> Justin Amash
> Raúl Labrador
> Timothy Johnson
> Chris Gibson
> Reid Ribble
> Thomas Massie
> ...

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## tsai3904

> Didn't Walter Jones sign those when Ron was still in? Or am I misremembering?


Yea but maybe they couldn't find him when this letter was being passed around.  I'm sure there's a lot more than 22 members who would sign this letter.

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## itshappening

11 Republicans and 11 Democrats have wrote a letter to the President and Congressional leaders calling for defense cuts.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/116298735/...etter-12-10-12

Republican's signing:

Mick Mulvaney 
Tom McClintock
Morgan Griffith 
Justin Amash
Raul Labrador 
Timothy Johnson
Chris Gibson
Reid Ribble
Thomas Massie
Dan Benishek
Scott Garrett

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## Aratus

neat letter, nice list

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## JasonC

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill...e-defense-cuts

*Right, left call for defense cuts*
By Jeremy Herb - 12/10/12 03:26 PM ET
Tweet

Fiscal conservatives and liberal Democrats are calling on party leaders to include substantial defense savings in a deficit-reduction deal.

A group of 22 House lawmakers  11 Democrats and 11 Republicans  sent a letter Monday to President Obama and House and Senate leaders calling for cuts to defense spending to be part of a deal to replace scheduled spending cuts and tax hikes set for January. 

Republican hawks have warned of the danger of further cuts to defense spending  particularly the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration  arguing that the Pentagon is already cutting $487 billion from its budgets in the 2011 Budget Control Act.

The lawmakers calling for defense cuts say that the manner of sequestration is not desirable, but argue that the overall level of cuts is achievable.

They point to studies from the Cato Institute, Taxpayers for Common Sense, the National Taxpayers Union and the Project on Defense Alternatives that have identified $500 billion or more in cuts.

We have serious concerns about the careless and arbitrary way that sequestration reduces defense spending, but we support its general intent to improve our fiscal condition, the lawmakers write.

We know the United States can maintain the best fighting force in the world while also pursuing sensible defense savings.

The letter includes Republican Reps. Mick Mulvaney (S.C.), Tom McClintock (Calif.) and Justin Amash (Mich.), who was kicked off the Budget Committee last week for not holding the GOP line.

The Democrats on the letter include Reps. Barney Frank (Mass.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Keith Ellison (Minn.) and Barbara Lee (Calif.).

Conservatives and liberals in the House have joined together before to push for a smaller defense budget: the two coalitions helped pass an amendment to the defense authorization bill in May at the tail end of the House floor debate that cut $1 billion off the top of the Pentagon budget.

The possibility of further defense cuts has played only a minor role in the negotiations on the "fiscal cliff" thus far.

Republican hawks and defense industry CEOs have admitted that some additional defense cuts could be coming in a fiscal-cliff deal, although they have argued that the number should be far less than $500 billion over the next decade.

Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) proposal last week included $300 billion in discretionary spending cuts over the next decade. The offer did not say what percentage of those cuts might hit the Pentagon budget.

(Link to letter sent to leadership with the names of those who signed it): http://www.scribd.com/doc/116298735/...etter-12-10-12

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## TCE

I'm wondering how serious they are about this, specifically the Democrats. These 22 Congressmen could probably swing the balance. If they demand defense cuts and are hardliners on that point, then there will probably be defense cuts. I am pessimistic, however, since it seems as if nothing ever actually gets cut, and especially a sacred cow such as the military.

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## LibertyEagle

I hate when they say "defense cuts".  Rand refers to it as cuts to the Pentagon.

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## jdmyprez_deo_vindice

I wonder if Ron gave Massie and Amash secret rings that when combined together cause them to change into the form of a liberty robot called RonTron2000

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## Bastiat's The Law

> I hate when they say "defense cuts".  Rand refers to it as cuts to the Pentagon.


Correct, we must be wordsmiths, because the public is easily duped.

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## jdmyprez_deo_vindice

> I hate when they say "defense cuts".  Rand refers to it as cuts to the Pentagon.


Agreed... When you say "Defense cuts" you scare people into thinking we want to dissolve the entire military.

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