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Lobbyists for military contractors are swarming all over Capitol Hill these days in a frenzy to stave off automatic budget cuts as part of the second wave of “sequestration” in January. If the cuts take effect, the Defense Department will not get their $50 billion increase for next year and will have to make do with $475 billion to fund troops and the related hardware. The private industry producing military weapons and related systems depends almost entirely on a bloated military budget to remain profitable.

Also included in the sequestration are across-the-board cuts to a broad cross-section of government agencies and departments, which if they go through, could devastate almost every aspect of government-funded programs and services we rely on.

For those reasons, the sequestration is unpopular among both major parties. But if cuts are necessary the main question is what deserves to get cut and what doesn’t. It is after all, a matter of priorities.

GUEST: Jo Comerford, the Executive Director of the National Priorities Project.

Visit www.nationalpriorities.org for more information.