Major defense contractors have confirmed they’ll send tens of thousands of employee layoff warnings shortly before Election Day, according to correspondence released Monday by Arizona Sen. John McCain.

McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, wants to jump-start congressional action to avert automatic, across-the-board budget restrictions set to take effect early next year. Hawks and defense vendors hope the threat of mass layoff warnings in late October will light a fire under a deadlocked Congress. Already, they point out the mere threat of the year-end “sequester” is hurting the defense industry and the broader national economy.

“The looming threat of sequestration cuts is forcing companies to delay hiring and capital investments, which, in turn, contributes to the sluggishness of the economy and continuing high unemployment rates,” McCain said in a statement.

Under the terms of last year’s deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, Congress mandated that $500 billion in defense budget growth over the coming decade automatically would be “sequestered” starting on Jan. 2. Lawmakers, industry leaders and Pentagon officials all have said those cuts must be undone, but Democrats and Republicans have been deadlocked over how to resolve the standoff.

The defense industry’s latest attempt to break the logjam is to argue that sequestration would mean a major dip in its cash flow and therefore constitute a threat to jobs. That threat triggers a labor law that obliges companies to warn workers they could be laid off, officials argue. Industry leaders and congressional hawks hope members of Congress across the board will be so leery of layoff notices shortly before the election that they will resolve sequester.

To that end, McCain’s office released letters from the CEOs of thirteen major defense vendors, of which three said they already know they’ll send the warnings: Lockheed Martin, the world’s biggest defense contractor; EADS North America and BAE Systems. Several others left open the possibility, including Raytheon, General Dynamics, SAIC and Northrop Grumman. Other CEOs said they didn’t expect they would need to issue layoff warnings, or that they wouldn’t issue them unless the Defense Department specifically terminated or restructured their existing contracts.

Each CEO complained about the uncertainty caused by the potential cuts, and each reinforced industry leaders’ longstanding warnings about the dangers of sequestration, citing studies that have found it could cost millions of jobs and put the U.S. economy into recession.

“Should sequestration occur, I believe it will have a devastating impact on our company and the defense industry,” wrote Lockheed CEO Robert Stevens. “It will undoubtedly lead to facility closures and significant job loss. It will disrupt our advanced manufacturing operations, erode our engineering expertise and capability and accelerate the loss of critical skills and knowledge.”

Still, even with McCain’s release of the CEO letters on Monday, few observers expect Congress to resolve sequestration before the Nov. 6 election, and it may not even agree on an answer this year.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81007.html#ixzz26AWHUGd2

Ah yes... the sequester issue.  The one that Paul Ryan VOTED FOR!  

It was and still should be the Department of War.  We haven't fought a defensive war since they renamed it the Department of Defense.  Go figure.   

The latest dereliction of duty: The sequestration law
By Jennifer Rubin

Friday was the day by which under a law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama the White House needed to detail the defense cuts it would make to comply with the upcoming sequestration under the Budget Control Act. But that’s messy in the middle of an election campaign in which voters might see what plants, bases and production lines might be slashed. So Obama ignored the law. No list. It’s not clear whether he will ever follow the law.

His Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, blasted the president: “A year ago, Barack Obama set in motion the sequestration process that is leading to imminent disastrous cuts in our military might. The President is required by law to tell the American people how he would implement these cuts. But he has chosen to ignore the deadline for doing so. The American people have had enough of evasion and enough of finger pointing. They just want answers. Secretary of Defense Panetta has said these cuts will be devastating to our national security and our economy. It’s time the President stops stonewalling, stops dismantling our military, and starts providing answers.”

Nevertheless the administration has given no date certain when it will comply. “It’s complicated,” says the administration

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....f4ab1c8d13_blog.html

Quoted from CICERO

It was and still should be the Department of War.  We haven't fought a defensive war since they renamed it the Department of Defense.  Go figure.   

It would have to be the Dept of Preemptive Undeclared Wars.

Quoted from CICERO

It was and still should be the Department of War.  We haven't fought a defensive war since they renamed it the Department of Defense.  Go figure.   

Really? You mean the Dept of War was renamed the Dept of Defense in 1861? Because that was the last defensive war the U.S was in.

Don't they teach you anything in militia school?

Quoted from BuckStrider

Really? You mean the Dept of War was renamed the Dept of Defense in 1861? Because that was the last defensive war the U.S was in.

Don't they teach you anything in militia school?

LOL...WWII was the last declared defensive war. Japan bombed Peral Harbor and Germany DECLARED WAR ON US.   You don't hear stuff like that on the Hannity Show do you?  

I guess militia school students are better informed than neo-con talk radio school students.

Quoted from CICERO

LOL...WWII was the last declared defensive war. Japan bombed Peral Harbor and Germany DECLARED WAR ON US.   You don't hear stuff like that on the Hannity Show do you?  

I guess militia school students are better informed than neo-con talk radio school students.

Awsome brah! My history is a bit fuzzy.

Could you remind me where the Japanese invasion force landed again in the continental U.S and how we defeated them?

We fought a DEFENSIVE wars against England in 1776 and 1812 because they sent forces to INVADE us.

The Confederate States of America (aka the Confederacy) attacked the United States in 1861 forcing the U.S into a DEFENSIVE war.





It's obvious you have no idea behind the concept of what an offensive and defensive war is....Now go back and smoke another joint and ponder this mystery

Quoted from BuckStrider

Awsome brah! My history is a bit fuzzy.

Could you remind me where the Japanese invasion force landed again in the continental U.S and how we defeated them?

We fought a DEFENSIVE wars against England in 1776 and 1812 because they sent forces to INVADE us.

The Confederate States of America (aka the Confederacy) attacked the United States in 1861 forcing the U.S into a DEFENSIVE war.

Man Buck, you don't need to put your ignorance on display.  You should not attempt to interject on topic outside the topics discussed on AM Talk Radio.

Ohhhhh Nooooooo....Japan declared war against the United States on November 26, 1941.  The United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941.  

Quoted Text

The Hull Note
The Hull note or officially Outline of Proposed Basis for Agreement Between the United States and Japan was the final proposal delivered to the Empire of Japan by the United States before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war between the two nations. The note was delivered on November 26, 1941; it is named for Secretary of State Cordell Hull.

The Hull Note
http://www.authentichistory.co.....se_Letter_To_US.html

Quoted Text

United States declares war on Japan on December 8, 1941.

Just after 9:30 a.m. on December 8, 1941, on a national radio broadcast, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) goes before a joint session of the U.S. Congress and begins with the following words: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." The president requests a declaration of war against Japan. Radios all over Washington state are turned on to his speech. The day before, Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor.

In schools the speech was broadcast over loudspeakers. Twenty-one minutes after President Roosevelt spoke, the U.S. Senate voted (82 for and 0 against) to declare war. The U.S. House of Representatives concurred 12 minutes later by a vote of 388 for and 1 against.

In any case, Romney wants to increase the defense budget by $2.1 trillion more, than The Pentagon even asked for, which makes it obvious that he doesn't give a damn about the deficit.

If Romney ever got elected, we would be involved in a brand new war in under a month.
I thank God every day it's not going to happen.

The current GOP ticket, is the first in 60 years, that has absolutely NO military, or foreign policy experience.

Quoted from Tommy

The current GOP ticket, is the first in 60 years, that has absolutely NO military, or foreign policy experience.

That was the winning formula in 08.

I believe both the dems and repub establishment are trying to lose this election.  The party in power when the economy eventually collapses will be out of power for the next 40 years.  Both parties are playing the long game.