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Article: Defense Budget Debate: Truth Cuts Both Ways; Officials Battle to Shape Public Perceptions
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- February 5, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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To Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney, the administration's
proposed post-Cold War defense budget signals an unambiguous break
with the past that will shrink Pentagon spending to its lowest share
of gross national product "since before Pearl Harbor."
To Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the proposed cuts are
"really business as usual," reducing defense spending "only to
normal, Cold War levels" as measured in constant, 1992 dollars.
In fact, both are telling the truth.
The dueling statistical portraits - both entirely accurate yet
pointing to opposite conclusions - are typical of the debate over
Pentagon spending, which has as much to do with shaping public
perceptions as it does with ...