41 percent

This is an interesting article, but nothing jumped out at me more than this:

The proposed Pentagon cuts, which include sharply reducing the program for the Air Force's F/A-22 fighter and delaying the purchase of a new Navy destroyer, would for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks slow the growth in Pentagon spending, which has risen 41 percent in that period, to about $420 billion this year.

I mean, DAMN! 41 percent? Is that including the war in Iraq? And why hasn't at least a small chunk of that increased spending gone to securing our ports and borders?

And with all these cuts, why isn't missile defense there with the rest of 'em?