good evening, everyone. i m erin burnett. outfront tonight, the big scare. with just four days in the congress high tails it out of washingt washington, there was plenty of talk about the looming consequences of the looming fiscal cliff. we re talking about tax cuts expiring for everyone automatically, payroll taxes going up, emergency unemployment benefits ending and, of course, the $1.2 trillion in so-called sequestration cuts. about half of that sum is going to come from defense. the obligation of the commander in chief is to act like the commander in chief, and that would be to prevent these cuts, which in the words of his own secretary of defense, would devastate our national security. interesting, acting like a commander in chief, because a lot of the previous commanders in chief have done a lot more than barack obama may be about to do. we ve certainly been here before. former president ronald reagan during his second term cut defense spending by about 10%. the c
there was plenty of talk about the dire consequences of the looming fiscal cliff. we re talking about tax cuts expiring for everyone automatically, payroll taxes going up, emergency unemployment benefits ending and, of course, the $1.2 trillion in so-called sequestration cuts. about half of that sum is going to come from defense. the obligation of the commander in chief is to act like the commander in chief, and that wld be to prevent these cuts, which in the words of his own secretary of defense, would devastate our national security. interesting, acting like a commander in chief, because a lot of the previous commanders in chief have done a lot more than barack obama may be about to do. we ve certainly been here before. ronald reagan during his second term cut defense spending by about 10%. the cold war was winding down. those cuts continued under former president george h.w. bush, about 18% in cuts. and then former president clinton. clinton did start to increase defen
with four days before congress high-tails it out of washington, there was plenty of talk about the dire consequences of the looming fiscal cliff. we re talking about tax cuts expiring for everyone automatically, payroll taxes going up, emergency unemployment benefits ending and, of course, the $1.2 trillion in so-called sequestration cuts. about half of that sum is going to come from defense. the obligation of the commander in chief is to act like the commander in chief, and that would be to prevent these cuts, which in the words of his own secretary of defense, would devastate our national security. interesting, acting like a commander in chief, because a lot of the previous commanders in chief have done a lot more than barack obama may be about to do. we ve certainly been here before. ronald reagan during his second term cut defense spending by about 10%. the cold war was winding down. those cuts continued under former president george h.w. bush, about 18% in cuts. and