By Larry Shaughnessy
Some of the Senate's big guns opened fire Tuesday on the new defense budget request, calling it "unacceptable" and saying they were "seriously concerned."
But the Pentagon's biggest gun fired back, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta telling the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the budget is Congress' test of whether cutting the deficit is about "talk or action."
(Read more from today's hearing about Taliban talks, Egypt, Israel and cybersecurity)
Tuesday's hearing was the start of several days of testimony on Capitol Hill focused on the 2013 defense budget request that proposes cuts of tens of thousands of troops, reduces the U.S. fleet of warplanes and slows down ship-building in order to meet billions of dollars in cuts mandated by Congress when it passed the Budget Control Act last summer.
Over the span of 10 years, the Pentagon will reduce its budget by more than $500 billion.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the leading Republican on the committee, immediately criticized the spending plan.
"I can say today that I do not fully endorse this budget request. Indeed, I am seriously concerned about how we arrived at this point," McCain said.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, was even more critical.
"I consider this budget an unacceptable risk," he said.
Panetta agreed with Lieberman, to an extent.
"Let me be clear. You can't take a half a trillion dollars out of the defense budget and not incur additional risks. We believe they are acceptable risks, but there are risks," Panetta explained.
But, he said, not addressing the nation's financial crisis is even riskier. "This will be a test for all of us of whether reducing the deficit is about talk or about action."
Two aspects of defense spending that are not addressed in the budget drew the attention of the senators on the committee - sequestration and a proposal to realign bases.
Sequestration is the automatic round of future defense cuts included in last summer's budget deal in the event the Congress does not succeed in passing necessary budget cuts, a move that's meant to be politically painful.
McCain said sequestration "would be catastrophic for our national defense."
Panetta himself has called sequestration a potential disaster. "This is why Congress must do everything possible to make sure that we avoid sequestration. We are more than prepared to work with the Congress to try to develop an approach that will de-trigger sequestration," he said.
When introducing the strategy for the new budget, the Department of Defense also suggested that Congress consider two more rounds of BRAC - or Base Realignment and Consolidation, the process under which old, outdated or redundant military bases in the U.S. are closed down and sold off to save money. But critics claim the BRAC process costs more in the short term than it could save.
"Before we consider another round of BRAC, the department ought to take a hard look at whether further reduction in bases can be made overseas, particularly in Europe," suggested committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, cited a Government Accountability Office report about the high cost of BRAC. "We're not going to see any savings from the 2005 BRAC until 2018," she said.
What's the status of al Qaeda a year after Osama bin Laden's death and what do we know now that we didn't know then? 
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The real test for Congress is to put together a whole complete package of government spending cuts that cuts to the bone every Federal Agency and program. Do it in one budget and make it painful across the board. That would be a real test of Congress and if this Congress won't do it then time to elect a new one.
Panetta is a gutless tool doing the dismantling dirty work for a black nationalist community organizer, son of an anti colonialist black nationalist, grandson of a Mao Mao terrorist now accomplishing “Dreams from my Father”. What might those Kenya-centric dreams be? Diminishing Western influence while concurrently expanding the pool of helpless- needy- dependent reliable democrat voters. Parasites.
Does it strike anyone as odd that days after submitting a budget adding one and one half trillion dollars to the national debt the only proposed cuts are to the one essential function of government, national security?
What is the purpose of government? It isn’t a trick question: It’s in the preamble to the Constitution. “…ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare…” “Promote the general welfare” means things like interstates and one common currency, not cradle to grave handouts. Where in the Constitution does it say give Title 8 housing to three generations of born on Medicaid high on taxpayer-provided percoset foodstamp eating unemployable losers? Yet entitlement spending exceeds fifty-three percent of the budget, while all of Defense, wars included, are less than twenty percent.
Ahh, but entitlement receiving parasites vote democrat, and Soldiers don’t.
It is too late to talk reason. More people now get entilements from the government then don't. They will vote for anyone (Obama) promising to give them more and get all excited about taking money from the "rich". They have now been brainwashed from grade school through college that everyone is entitled to everything and it is the government's job to provide it. It is like a train wreck – you can see it coming but can't do anything to stop it. This nation will be another Greece – a failed socialist society with people rioting in the streets when the government finally destroys the value of the dollar. The rate we are going – it won't be that long in the future.
To the first comment, that was such an ignorant response, but in a racial, back-woods, having your sister as your girlfriend, with just enough teeth to chew your peanuts up way-kind of funny! Great job on showing the rest of us you failed the 4th grade...repeatedly!
Nothing new under the sun: Get the Govt. out of my life and Cut all that wasteful Govt. Spending.......just don't forget to send me my Social Security Check, Medicare Check, Medicaid Check.....and don't you dare cut any wasteful govt. spending in MY state!
"Let's have our cake and eat it too." That mentality has led us to where we are today.
I'm quite impressed with Panetta's dignity in such a dramatic drawdown
Panetta was appointed by Obama, will go along with any cuts Obama wants, and is one of the best liars in Washington.
The GOP solution: Turn all the Old, Sick, Poor, Non-white, Non-christian, Unemployed, and Gay people into slaves. Then whip them until they are Young, Healthy, Rich, White, Christian, Employed, and Straight. Or until they are dead. Then turn them into Soylent Green to feed the military.
First of all, you need to grow up, secondly you need an education and last of all you sound just like any robotic rhetoric spewing imbecilic blind follower from either party( and Very much like the escuse making misdirectinbg blind Bush drones)...and none of you are doing this country any good. I am a Democrat and we don't need peopel like you pretending to represent our party...you are a fringe dwelling urchin and only pretend to be involved in politics as a way to feel less useless in sociey.
Hey – don't hold back.
Tell 'em how you really feel.
I agree with WW in that we need some intelligence in conversations about the government's spending priorities. Your comment is insulting, not only to your own intelligence, but to those who read it.
Works for me.