The future has arrived, sooner than expected.

• Author: Farrell, Jr., Lawrence P.
• Position: PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE - On federal budget, defense spending, and the financial crisis - Column

Until fairly recently, most discussions about the financial challenges of the United States, including its military and defense priorities, were fraught with predictions of fiscal "train wrecks" and budget calamities. But the underlying belief and hope was that there was still ample time to make the tough decisions. There was an implied understanding that we would take care of it "when we get there."

The federal budget is kind of like that, as it is essentially a year-to-year cash exercise that only addresses today's fiscal necessities. The philosophy seems to be, "We'll address future problems when they arrive."

Well, much sooner than expected, the future has arrived. The missteps and impact of the current financial meltdown are forcing us to confront a staggering crisis. The troubles in the nation's economy bear huge consequences for our way of life and, significantly in this column, for defense and national security. Enormous budget deficits will pile up--$1 trillion alone in 2009--and the national debt will create crushing pressures on future revenues, taxes and spending. The depth of the current slowdown can be seen in manufacturing numbers--our traditional engine of real growth. According to the Institute for Supply Management, December marked the fifth consecutive month of manufacturing decline. In fact the manufacturing index was 32.4 percent that month, the lowest since 1980. An index above 50 percent indicates expansion. And the new orders index fell to 22.7 percent, the lowest since January 1948. Manufacturing is in real trouble.

A recent report by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation paints a frightening outlook. It notes that the United States only balanced its budget six times in the last 50 years. Further, with the retirement of the baby boomers, the nation's finances will soon run aground on the shoals of unfunded liabilities. If revenues continue at 18.3 percent of GDP, by 2027 they will not even cover net interest on the debt, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The government will be forced to borrow for everything else--education, defense, homeland security and other essential programs. And by 2017, Social Security will no longer have a surplus. Then it will begin to dip into the trust fund. These IOUs will need to be redeemed by more taxes or more borrowings. Well before that, all other accounts will begin to feel the squeeze.

Where does defense fit in this stew? In November 2008, U.S. Joint Forces Command put together...