Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton told The Daily Caller that President Obama’s cuts to the defense budget are an attempt to put more taxpayer funds into social welfare programs, labeling the move “exactly” what the Europeans have done. Bolton said Obama’s actions caused “bloated social welfare states” when they were attempted in Europe.
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“If he had proposed that flat out, the Republicans would have opposed it unanimously, but he got it through indirection and inattention and once you’re in a hole, it takes time to get back out of it,” Bolton told TheDC at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
“What Obama was trying to do was take money out of defense and put it into domestic social welfare programs. It’s exactly what the Europeans have done with their social democratic policies and it’s left them with bloated welfare states and insufficient defenses. That’s not the future for America.”
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the automatic $500 billion in cuts or “sequester” over the next 10 years, supported by the White House, would cause “untold damage” to America’s national security. Under the Budget Control Act of 2011, the cuts will go into effect since the congressional super committee did not reach a deficit reduction agreement.
Bolton also said “reality overwhelmed” Obama so he continued many of the Bush administration’s national security policies. He added that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would make a better commander-in-chief.
“I think [Romney] believes in defending America’s position in the world and making sure we have adequate resources to do it and carrying on the struggle against international terrorism and the proliferation against weapons of mass destruction. I think where Obama continued Bush administration policies, he did it because reality overwhelmed him and proved his ideology just wasn’t adequate,” said Bolton.
“But I think Romney’s thought through these questions very carefully. I think he’d be an excellent commander-in-chief and I think he would reverse course where Obama has left us more vulnerable.”
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