Calling the Republican's bluff

As the new Congress begins its session this week with the Republicans (supposedly) focusing on reducing the deficit, it seems like they are having trouble coming up with specifics on the spending cut side of the equation - all while the House Republicans want to increase the debt by repealing health care reform.

In the midst of all this, the Obama administration is calling their bluff. And in a note of wonderful irony, the specifics are coming from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was first appointed to that position by a Republican.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates staged a pre-emptive attack Thursday in Washington's looming budget battles, announcing cuts of $78 billion to the U.S. military and defense department, including reducing the size of the Army and Marine Corps.

In addition, Gates said the Army, Navy and Air Force had found $100 billion of savings that they would retain, allowing them to continue developing major weapons and modernizing their forces over the next five years.

Your move Speaker Boehner.

;-)