(CARY) -- Aerospace and defense industry executives are meeting in Cary today (Wednesday) to draw attention to the military cuts looming at the end of the year unless Congress acts.  But Angela Canterbury of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group, says there'd be nothing devastating about curbing over-charges and mismanagement by big military subcontractors

"Half of out discretionary spending every year goes toward defense. there's not a country in the world that spends on huns on planes and ship like [the U.S. does.] We really need to get leaner and meaner, and spend smarter. There's a alot of inefficiency and a lot of fat to cut."

Canterbury calls the claim of one-million fewer jobs a "political stunt," saying that defense contractors are busy enough to have back-orders for their products.

The companies with defense contracts are seeking to protect their Penatgon contracts, opposing the more than $1 trillion in budget cuts to both domestic and defense programs. Canterbury says there is growing concern that defense contractors, not U.S. troops, are the real benefactors of a bigger military budget.

"They spend so much money on elections. And paired with huge amounts spent on lobbying and fancy roadshows -- like the ones we've seen this week with the Senators -- it's tough to beat the money spent in Washington D.C. by the Pentagon defense lobby."

Three Senators – McCain from Arizona, Graham from South Carolina, and Ayotte from New Hampshire – visited Fayetteville earlier this week, saying the defense budget has already been cut enough.