Moneyball for defense spending?

FThis is not the first time in a while that far-left politicians are asking for cuts to defense budgets.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Republican from California) made a deal in January to reach an agreement with hard-right members his party to support a cap of discretionary spending at the fiscal 2022 level. It would freeze Pentagon’s share of defense spending at $740 Billion. This is in contrast to the current budget which is $816 billion. This represents a roughly $76 billion cut.

McCarthy claims that there is plenty of fat to trim, despite the fact that a strong bipartisan majority in both Houses supports raising defense spending to at minimum keep pace with inflation. “I’m sure they can find some places that they could be more efficient. We have some of the best Navy SEALs, some of the best Rangers. They come to me every single day as they serve in Congress and tell me where that waste is in the Pentagon and others and want to be more efficient,” McCarthy spoke with Fox News in January.

“Eliminate all the money spent on wokeism. Eliminate all the money that they’re [using] trying to find different fuels, worrying about the environment,” McCarthy spoke. “I want our men and women trained to be able to defend themselves, to secure, to have the best weapon systems possible.”

The trifecta is something that everyone can agree to in principle. “waste, fraud, and abuse,” But in practice it has been difficult to identify and even harder to eradicate. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts believes that the use of advanced analytics in professional sports could help. He is also praising conservatives’ willingness to accept new ideas. “to tackle the thorny challenge of military spending reforms,” Call it “a refreshing change from the Washington status quo.”

An essay titled “The Last Month” was published last month.Take a serious look at responsible defense spendingRoberts invoked the celebrated story from Michael Lewis’ 2003 book. Moneyball: How to win an unfair gameAs a guideline, you can find smart ways to reduce the Pentagon’s spending without compromising its ability to fight wars.

“Congress needs to take a Moneyball approach to our national defense,” Roberts argued.

“To get into the right mindset, Congress should refamiliarize itself with Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, who was handed a team in 2002 with the third-lowest payroll in the MLB, one-third as much as the Yankees. By defying the prevailing practices of MLB old-timers, who valued the looks of their players ahead of on-base percentage, Beane took a more efficient, data-driven approach and squeezed the most out of every dollar. He took his band of misfits to a 103-59 season and a postseason berth — the same number of wins as the well-funded Yankees.”

In a Freakonomics Radio Interview Lewis stated last year that he knew people use the internet a lot. “moneyball” As a catchall adjectival when they need a metaphor for sports to describe shaking things, but he thought of other times. “You