Another week is in the books for the National Capital Region, and here are a few of the stories we didn't get a chance to write about while it was taking place:
• Steve Trimble casts a skeptical eye on Lockheed's and the government's claims about how many jobs are created by the F-35 program.
• Loren Thompson says that budget reductions for DoD will make America's anemic economic recovery even worse.
• POGO's blog warns what could happen to defense, and everything else, for that matter, if the Super Congress doesn't have to conduct itself openly and transparently.
• Time's Mark Thompson gives a case study in why it's so hard to cut defense spending: Maine's congressional delegation is fighting the planned closure of a commissary near the now-closed former Naval Air Station Brunswick. There are plenty of other places nearby to shop, he writes, but: "The spat offers a preview of why cutting defense – which must be done – is so difficult. If a neighborhood nick like this creates such a firestorm, what chance is there for the wholesale changes needed to put the U.S. military on a sound footing for the 21st Century? If we can't cut out government-subsidized bread and milk for a shuttered military post, what hope is there for recalibrating the strategic nuclear triad, the $382 billion F-35 program, or missile defense?"
• Naval historial James D. Hornfischer, author of the classic "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors," has a new book coming out about Guadalcanal. He's scheduled to appear Sunday on CDR Salamander's radio show, and you'll be able to join in the discussion, if you're into that sort of thing.
