Chuck Hagel Is A Good Choice For U.S. Deficit Hawks

Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s pick for U.S. defense secretary, is a good choice for deficit hawks. He mixes dovish foreign policy views - at least for a Republican - with budget-cutting fervor. The combination could actually slash Pentagon spending. Reducing it to the proportion of GDP seen in the late 1990s would save Uncle Sam a quarter of a trillion dollars a year. As a senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009, Hagel voted against government spending programs including the “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001 and Medicare prescription drugs legislation two years later. On foreign policy, he backed the 2003 Iraq invasion but was an outspoken opponent of the so-called surge of 2007 to 2008. Before his Senate service, Hagel made millions in the cellphone business. Obama will set policy, but the nominee isn’t likely to object to military cuts and is equipped to find efficienc...