Rapid Fire Sept. 26, 2013: Continuing Resolution Likely to Lose Its Obamacare Poison Pill

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* House Republicans are considering postponing their attempt to decry/delay/derail/defang Obamacare to the soon-coming debt ceiling strong arm contest, which may ease the approval of a short-term continuing resolution in the meantime. The Senate has started consideration of H.J.RES.59, the continuing resolution already approved in the House that contains language to defund Obamacare, and will no doubt reverse the GOP’s attempted Obamacarectomy. It doesn’t mean the Senate and House will agree on a topline number for the CR, leaving the prospect of even a stopgap CR still uncertain. * Some senators will try to amend the Senate’s version of the CR to extend visa programs for Iraqi and Afghan interpreters. * Todd Harrison of the CSBA think tank notes in his latest slidedeck [PPTX] on the US defense budget that the RDT&E budget has already fallen as much as in prior drawdowns, in relative terms (slide 8). The climb and drop were steeper than in past cycles. * The US federal government is going to review the involvement of private contractors in background checks for security clearances, in reaction to the Washington Navy Yard shooting. * The US Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is working on […]

* House Republicans are considering postponing their attempt to decry/delay/derail/defang Obamacare to the soon-coming debt ceiling strong arm contest, which may ease the approval of a short-term continuing resolution in the meantime. The Senate has started consideration of H.J.RES.59, the continuing resolution already approved in the House that contains language to defund Obamacare, and will no doubt reverse the GOP’s attempted Obamacarectomy. It doesn’t mean the Senate and House will agree on a topline number for the CR, leaving the prospect of even a stopgap CR still uncertain.

* Some senators will try to amend the Senate’s version of the CR to extend visa programs for Iraqi and Afghan interpreters.

* Todd Harrison of the CSBA think tank notes in his latest slidedeck [PPTX] on the US defense budget that the RDT&E budget has already fallen as much as in prior drawdowns, in relative terms (slide 8). The climb and drop were steeper than in past cycles.

* The US federal government is going to review the involvement of private contractors in background checks for security clearances, in reaction to the Washington Navy Yard shooting.

* The US Army’s Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is working on an Ultra Light Vehicle (ULV) prototype with DARPA’s help to try and revert the trend of ever heavier military vehicles. Their website is offline at the moment, but here’s a short video.

* Daniel Goure of the Lexington Institute thinks the US Army’s biannual Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) field tests are a genuine success that help introduce new technology faster and lower costs.

* From yet another DC-based think tank – CSIS this time – The Search for Stability and the ‘Non-War’ against ‘Non-Terrorism’ [PDF]:

“The United States has not fought wars as such, but rather became involved in exercises in armed nation building, where stability operations escalated into national building as a result of US occupation and where the failures in stability operations and nation building led to insurgencies that forced the United States into major counterinsurgency campaigns that had little to do with counterterrorism.”

* German firms Rheinmetall AG and Ferrostaal GmbH have formed a joint venture to build turnkey defense industrial facilities in international markets.

* Because of budget cuts the Netherlands plans to sell 44 of its CV-90 IFVs as well as 12 new wheeled Boxer armoured vehicles that haven’t even been delivered yet.

* The video below shows US Marines working on the retrograde from Afghanistan:

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