Photograph by Everett Collection

Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles, 1974.

Congressional leaders have had a lot to say about their across the board budget cuts, also known as sequestration.

Sen. Mark Warner brought film director Mel Brooks into the discussion this morning.

Echoing remarks made by former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in the lead-up to sequestration, the Virginia Democrat compared the cuts to a scene in the classic comedy “Blazing Saddles.”

Warner explained that, in the movie, “The sheriff comes out and puts a gun to his head and all the townspeople come out and say, ‘Oh my gosh, the sheriff may pull the trigger.’ We in Congress set up that circumstance with sequester, and unfortunately two weeks ago we allowed that trigger to be pulled.”

On the big screen, the townspeople of Rock Ridge back off and let Sheriff Bart retreat into his office with town leaders imploring the crowd gathered, “Listen to him men, he’s just crazy enough to do it!”

In Warner’s version of events, Congress wasn’t smart enough to avoid the cuts.

“These cuts were set up to be the stupidest way possible,” he reminded his colleagues. “No rational group of folks would allow them to come to pass.”

Original post is Blazing Budgetary Saddles ‘Stupidest’ by Political Capital.

Photograph by Rich Clement/Bloomberg

A memorial for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks stands at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

That’s how much the Pentagon would face in cuts for the rest of the fiscal year if automatic spending cuts went into effect March 1.

The across-the-board cuts, known as sequestration, will “result in a serious erosion of readiness across the force,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a message yesterday to about 800,000 Department of Defense employees.

Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio and Brendan McGarry have more here on Panetta’s message, in which the defense secretary said he notified Congress that furloughs could occur under sequestration.

Defense officials are also concerned that the cuts could affect the department’s ability to train alongside NATO allies, Bloomberg’s Gopal Ratnam reports.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: $46 Billion by Political Capital.

Photograph by Jonathan Olley/Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection

Actor James Gandolfini as Leon Panetta in “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Just exactly a month ago, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta steered clear of critiquing “Zero Dark Thirty” when asked about the film by reporters flying with him to Lisbon. Today, though, he offered a casting quibble.

“The guy who plays me isn’t quite, quite right,” Panetta said with a smile during a ceremony at the Pentagon honoring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who recently stepped down from her Cabinet job.

James Gandolfini of “The Sopranos” fame portrays Panetta in the controversial movie about the hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

“My preference probably would have been Pacino,” he said, referring to Oscar-winner Al Pacino, another Italian-American with less girth than Emmy-winner Gandolfini.

Panetta also said it’s impossible for a movie to do justice to all that went into tracking down and killing bin Laden in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America..

“There’s no way you can take 10 years of all of the work that was done, even in the last four years or the last two years up to that operation, that I was involved with,” he said. “There’s no way you can take that and put it into a two-hour movie.”

The ceremony was among the wrap-up activities by Panetta, 74, who will leave his post once President Barack Obama’s choice to take over the Pentagon post, former Senator Chuck Hagel, wins Senate confirmation.

After citing some of Clinton’s accomplishments, Panetta — a longtime California congressman and former White House chief of staff – provided some personal thoughts.

“Hillary and I are a little older, perhaps a little wiser, a little less patient, particularly with political dysfunction, a little bit less tolerant of B.S. in general — and it is probably a good thing at this point in time that we have a chance to get some damn rest.”

As the audience of military officers and Pentagon employes laughed, he added, “I’m going to have as broad a smile as she does, hopefully, in a few days.”

Original post is Panetta Sees Himself More Like Pacino Than Gandolfini by Political Capital.

Photograph by Adek Berry/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Marines 2nd Batallion, 1st Marines Regiment with Female Engagement Team Sargeant Savanna E. Malendoski, center, and Sargeant Patricia A. Aquino, left, talk to Afghan villagers during a visit to a village in Gamser, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan.

So women will go to war.

But when will they be drafted?

The Defense Department’s decision to lift the ban against women on the front lines of combat leaves open the question of the draft.

Men were drafted for the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam, when the draft ended.

Still, it was Congress, with the passage of a new Selective Service act in 1980 — at President Jimmy Carter’s direction, looking at the Russian invasion of Afghanistan — that shaped the modern law requiring young men to register for the draft, in the event of a need.

The Supreme Court voted 6-3 in 1981 against a challenge by men claiming discrimination under the law.

As the Pentagon works in the coming few years to determine which combat roles will be open to women, and what the standards will be, it will not be the Pentagon that decides if women are to be added to the draft rolls. It will be Congress, says Larry Romo, 12th director of the Selective Service System, in an interview with National Public Radio.

“Congress and the president can either continue the military selective service as is, or they can pass a new law,” he says.

As it stands, 92 percent of men under 25 comply with the law and register with the draft.

Asked how much preparation he had for this issue, he said something interesting about Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s decision to lift the ban on women in combat.

“We actually didn’t find anything out until I read about in the media,” the draft director said — though he has told the Pentagon that he stands ready to provide any information, while noting that Defense has until 2016 to approve final details of its deployment of women.

Congress? They have all the time they want.

Original post is When Will Women Be Drafted for War? — When Congress Says So by Political Capital.

Photograph by Munir uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Army soldiers attached to 2nd platoon, C troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 91st U.S Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team operating under NATO sponsored International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) looks through his rifle as a Medevac helicopter takes off during a patrol near Baraki Barak base in Logar Province on Oct. 13, 2012. T

Written with Richard Rubin

Just as the U.S. gross domestic product is taking a hit from lower defense budgets, federal spending cuts viewed as unthinkable a few months ago — $1.2 trillion falling heavily on the Pentagon — are seen as likely to happen starting March 1.

What’s known as budget sequestration, designed to be so draconian that it would push Democrats and Republicans to compromise on taxes and spending, has hardened the parties’ positions. If the cuts occur, they would require $600 billion in across-the-board military spending reductions over a decade that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called “devastating.”

House Republican leaders, weakened by Obama’s re-election and Democratic gains in the House and Senate, are resigned to accepting the cuts rather than risking a deal with Obama that would mean higher taxes. Democrats see little political benefit in accepting Republican offers to forestall the reductions in exchange for cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare.

“I want to make sure we save that money,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican. “I’m not going to vote to change it unless we replace it.”

Alan Krueger, chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the decline in GDP underscores the need for legislation that does away with the automatic spending cuts “to avoid self-inflicted wounds to the economy.”

Congress must “move toward a sustainable federal budget in a responsible way that balances revenue and spending, and replaces the sequester, while making critical investments in the economy that promote growth and job creation and protect our most vulnerable citizens,” Krueger said in an e-mailed statement.

Today’s economic report may not change the underlying political standoff that has prevented Congress from avoiding sequestration.

See the full report on defense cuts and the GDP at Bloomberg.com.

Original post is Defense Cuts: Unavoidable, Despite GDP Contraction Pinned on Defense? by Political Capital.

Photograph by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry, President Barack Obama’s nominee to become secretary of state, gives a ‘thumbs-up’ as he arrives on Capitol Hill on Jan. 24, 2013, to testify before his confirmation hearing before the committee to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.

One day after members of congress grilled Hillary Clinton over the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Sen. John Kerry faces a hearing of his own as the nominee to replace Clinton as secretary of state. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets today to review Kerry’s credentials amid continuing global challenges.

North Korea today threatened to conduct a nuclear weapons test to derail “hostile” U.S. policies, after the Obama administration pushed through UN sanctions against the totalitarian state for a rocket launch last month.

Vice President Joe Biden goes online to discuss gun violence as Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and other Democrats introduce assault weapon legislation in the wake of the slayings in Newtown, Connecticut.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta holds a briefing at the Pentagon to discuss plans to end the ban on women in combat.

The U.S. and Japan today sign an amendment to an income tax treaty.

And the Office of Personnel Management is allowing federal workers to telework or take unscheduled leave today because of snow in the Washington, D.C., area. Government offices remain open.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Taking the Hot Seat by Political Capital.

Photograph by John D McHugh/Reportage by Getty Images

U.S. medics from Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion 82nd Aviation, General Supprot Aviation Battalion, tend to two Afghan women on a Blackhawk UH-60 helicopter as they fly to Bagram Air Field, from Parwan province, Afghanistan.

Written with David Lerman

With word that the Pentagon is lifting a ban on women serving in direct combat roles, women who have served in the military — including some who have come home with Purple Hearts — are hailing “a historic day.”

About 15 percent of all who serve in active duty in the armed forces are female, and some have played supporting combat roles — in combat helicopters, warplanes and on the ground.

“Today is a historic day for not only women currently serving in our armed forces, but for all of the women who have selflessly put their lives on the line in theaters of war throughout our nation’s history,” says Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a first-term member of Congress from Hawaii who has served two tours of duty in Iraq. “Female service members have contributed on the battlefield as far back as the Civil War, when some disguised themselves as men just to have the opportunity to serve their nation.”

Newly elected Rep. Tammy Duckworth, from Illinois, was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot, among the first women to fly combat missions in Iraq. On Nov. 12, 2004, when her helicopter was hit by an RPG, she lost both of her legs.

Women have increasingly been exposed to combat as the traditional front lines of battle have become blurred in an age of terrorism and unconventional warfare. Women also fly combat aircraft, including helicopters and carrier-based Navy fighters, and the Navy has begun assigning women to duty on submarines. At least 144 female troops have been killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and more than 860 have been wounded, according to the Pentagon.

The action means “qualified women will have the same chance to distinguish themselves in combat as their brothers in arms, which they actually already have been doing with valor and distinction,” Ariela Migdal, senior staff attorney for the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, said in a statement.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s move, which he plans to discuss with reporters tomorrow at the Pentagon, will be one of his final initiatives before his planned retirement. It removes one controversy from the agenda that former Senator Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Pentagon, would have to face if he wins Senate confirmation.

Original post is Women in Combat: Reality Catches Up by Political Capital.

Photograph by L'Osservatore Romano-Vatican Pool via Getty Images

Pope Benedict XVI meets with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the end of the General Audience at the Paul VI Hall on Jan. 16, 2013 in Vatican City.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is asking for a little divine intervention as he wraps up his service at the Pentagon.

Panetta is spending this week on a trip to western Europe, with the official purpose of thanking NATO allies for their participation in the Afghanistan war.

Yet the schedule allowed time for the Italian-American Pentagon chief to have an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican today.

Panetta, a Roman Catholic, attended a prayer gathering at the Pius VI Audience Hall with several thousand people.

Along with about two dozen others, Panetta went up on the stage to kiss the pope’s ring.

“Thank you for helping to protect the world,” the pope told him, according to Panetta.

“Pray for me,” Panetta replied.

The trip, which includes stops in Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, is almost certainly his last international outing before he leaves office. President Barack Obama has picked former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel to take Panetta’s place.

Original post is Pope to Panetta: ‘Thank You’ by Political Capital.

Photograph by Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

A convention attendee looks through a display of Sig Sauer semiautomatic rifles during the 35th annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas. The National Shooting Sports Foundation was focusing its trade show on products and services new to what it calls a $4.1 billion industry.

Written by Jim O’Connell

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden unveil plans to ban sales of assault weapons and strengthen background checks for gun buyers. They will be joined at the White House by children who wrote to them expressing concerns after the school shooting in Connecticut last month. The recommendations face opposition in Congress, especially in the Republican-controlled House.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will reveal today that he plans to step down from his post in March, according to the Denver Post.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrives in Rome as part of a week-long European tour. The son of Italian immigrants meets Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican today.

All Nippon and Japan Airways grounded all their Dreamliner jets today after passengers of one of the Boeing-made planes were forced to evacuate down chutes because pilots smelled smoke and made an emergency landing. A battery caught fire on a Japan Airways Dreamliner in Boston last week, prompting U.S. regulators to review the aircraft’s design.

Cary O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Assault Weapons Ban by Political Capital.

Photograph by Richard Olley/Columbia Pictures via Everett Collection

A scene from Zero Dark Thirty.

On a flight to Lisbon today, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had a chance to
weigh in on the controversial, Oscar-nominated film “Zero Dark Thirty,” which depicts the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Senators including Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, have criticized the film for suggesting that harsh interrogation techniques yielded crucial information that led to bin Laden.

Panetta, as head of the Central Intelligence Agency at the time, played a pivotal role in directing the raid. James Gandolfini of “The Sopranos” fame plays Panetta in the movie, which opened in limited release on Dec. 19 and went wide this past weekend.

If Panetta is troubled by the film, he wasn’t willing to say so today. He stopped short of offering any critique.

“You know what?” he told reporters on his plane when asked about the film. “I lived it.”

“Zero Dark Thirty” proved the weekend’s top-grossing film in the U.S. and Canadian markets, taking in $24 million. Its Oscar nominations include Best Picture and Best Actress (Jessica Chastain). The Golden Globe award for best actress has gone to Chastain, who draws a cafeteria visit from Gandolfini playing Panetta in the film, with praise for her work on the bin Laden hunt.

Original post is Panetta Passes On Critiquing ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ — ‘I Lived It’ by Political Capital.