First up on the Wednesday Blog, insightful analysis of the U.S. defense budget and future defense priorities from the AEI:

There remains a critical problem in policymakers' approach to defense planning: confusion about the definition of "defense spending" and what makes up the defense budget. There is a crucial distinction between the baseline defense budget--the costs of raising, training, equipping, and otherwise readying U.S. military forces--and wartime costs--the additional expenses that come with employing the forces, including the costs of resetting them to original readiness levels. Indeed, the constant debates about the unanticipated and escalating (though still relatively low, as discussed below) costs of operations in Iraq and elsewhere have obscured and delayed a much-needed evaluation of the requirements for and costs of the force needed now and for the future. (continue reading...)

Barack Obama is in serious, serious trouble. His ill-advised comments at a fundraiser in, of all places, San Francisco were the final, decisive bullet point needed for the GOP to assemble an effective, negative caricature of him to promote for the next six months (continue reading...)

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