Defense is not a discretionary budget item.

"Last week the Russian air force celebrated the maiden flight of the Sukhoi T-50, Moscow's version of the American F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. We have shut down the F-22 production line, viewing it as an unaffordable and unnecessary extravagance. We mention this in light of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's statement that President Obama's proposed freeze on discretionary domestic programs should also cover defense expenditures. Unfortunately, our enemies aren't freezing their defense budgets. ... Defense is not a discretionary budget item. It's a constitutional imperative and one of the reasons we have a government. The greatest social service a government can perform for its people is to keep them alive and free. 'Everybody has to make a sacrifice,' Pelosi [said], shortly before Obama announced his proposed discretionary spending freeze in his State of the Union address. By everybody, she evidently was excluding herself; the speaker's interest in Air Force jets does not extend beyond the ones that fly her and her family around. Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch show that Pelosi has incurred expenses of $2.1 million for her use of Air Force jets the past two years. Then there's the matter of the $101,000 tab taxpayers picked up over that period for 'in-flight services,' including a selection of top-shelf booze. ... Pelosi has used Air Force aircraft to travel back to her district at average cost of $28,210.51 per flight. ... We suggest that since everybody has to make a sacrifice, it not come at the expense of the U.S. military. We can't build any more Raptors, but we can use Air Force jets as sky taxis for politicians who consider themselves too important to fly commercial." --Investor's Business Daily