"You Can't Have Everything That You Want"

House Armed Services Committee Chair Ike Skelton defended the Obama administration's proposed weapons cuts, saying "every weapons system needs to be scrutinized."

Skelton made the comments in an interview with the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call.

"Every weapons system needs to be scrutinized," said Skelton. "As time goes on, some things get outdated. And it’s a constant research and development on one hand, and constant procurement on the other. And it’s all guided on the budget process. You can’t have everything that you want. That’s why you have to pick and choose," he added.

Some Republicans have argued that cutting the F-22 and the Army's Future Combat systems would hurt national security.

"We are putting $13 billion to increase the personnel system. That $13 billion has to come from somewhere. We need to take care of the troops and the Members have to know that," Skelton replied.

ALSO: Ike doesn't like the phrase "global war on terror."

"I’m not sure what it means. We are engaged in a conflict with Islamic extremists. And we should handle it as such, and we are. The genesis of those who attacked us was in Afghanistan," Skelton said.

McCaskill Complains to Pentagon About Bad Contracts

Sen. Claire McCaskill says the Pentagon has done little to collect at least $100 million dollars in overcharges paid to a corrupt defense contractor.

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McCaskill and Maine Senator Susan Collins have sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, according to the New York Times.

The letter also complains that the Army "had almost completely failed to move away from the monopolistic nature of the logistics contract that has paid the contractor."

Read the entire story HERE.

McCaskill chairs a contracting oversight subcommittee, under the Homeland Security Committee.

Talent Laments Obama Pentagon Procurement Cuts

In a wonky piece for National Review, former Senator Jim Talent urges the Obama administration to defy political pressure and seek a double-digit budget increase for the Department of Defense.

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Talent argues that because of underfunding under the previous two administrations, much of the military's equipment is "rusted, old, unreliable or worn out."

"How can the administration possibly claim Keynesian justification for throwing money at every government agency except the military? No one could credibly argue that doubling the budget of the Department of Energy creates jobs, but buying ships or planes built by American workers in American industry does not," writes Talent.

"The failures of his predecessors have left him no choice but to seek a double-digit increase in the defense budget and use the money to modernize America’s military inventory. On this issue at least, Barack Obama must for his own sake find a way to act like Ronald Reagan. Otherwise, his foreign policy is finished," he concludes.

Overall Defense Secretary Robert Gates is proposing roughly a 4 percent hike in 2010 defense spending to about $534 billion dollars. Some analysts say Gates is just trying to "slow the rate of growth."