Some in the party of Ronald Reagan have decided that the defense budget is “part of the problem” of reckless government spending. Many of these selfsame frugal Republicans aver that while discretionary spending must come down, entitlements must be sacrosanct. Without making any value judgment, the notion that spending can be reined in by cutting solely discretionary accounts is demonstrably false.

Agree or disagree on defense cuts, it got the AEI Foreign and Defense team talking. Below is an annotated and edited version of our lengthy internal chat. We speak among ourselves like this every day, and hope you will enjoy a window into our virtual conversations.

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