But I thought government didn't create jobs?

It's funny how we always hear from conservatives and their assorted interest groups that government spending doesn't create jobs, until it comes to our bloated defense budget, in which case WHAT ABOUT THE JOBS?

Unless Congress and the White House can agree on a plan to reduce the federal deficit, Wisconsin stands to lose more than 11,000 jobs from military spending cuts scheduled to begin in January.

That's according to a new study by a national manufacturing trade group, which says many of the job reductions could occur at big defense contractors, compounded by losses at hundreds of smaller companies that supply products and services to the defense industry.

In a fragile economy, policy makers should take steps to prevent $500 billion in defense spending cuts that, nationwide, could result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, according to the study from the National Association of Manufacturers and the University of Maryland.

"Congress needs to make the tough decisions on spending to address our debt crisis. But these decisions cannot be made at the expense of our economic and national security," said Jay Timmons, president of the Washington, D.C.-based trade group.