Judd Legum
1. In 2023, the Democratic and Republican parties are deeply divided on virtually every issue
But there is an exception
There is always more money for defense contractors
The debt limit deal, ostensibly about reducing deficits, contains billions more for the defense industry
Judd Legum
10. A Department of Defense report released last month concluded that the five major defense contractors "generate substantial amounts of cash beyond their needs for operations or capital investment."
In other words, they are fleecing taxpayers
https://popular.info/p/there-is-always-more-money-for-defense
Judd Legum
9. In 1991, when there was genuine competition for military contracts, the cost of one shoulder-fired stinger missile was $25,000.
Now, defense contractor Raytheon is the sole supplier.
One missile costs 400K
Even accounting for inflation, that's a 7x increase
Judd Legum
8. The issue became more severe "in the early 2000s when the Pentagon, in another cost-saving move, cut 130,000 employees whose jobs were to negotiate and oversee defense contracts."
Today, the Pentagon has to trust contractors to do the right thing.
It's not working out well.
Judd Legum
7. The problem has its roots in the early 1990s "when the Pentagon, looking to reduce costs, urged defense companies to merge and 51 major contractors consolidated to five giants."
That means there was no longer much competition for defense contracts.
Judd Legum
6. Military contractors have taken advantage of the political dynamics. According to a 60 Minutes investigation that aired earlier this month, "[m]ilitary contractors overcharge the Pentagon on almost everything the Department of Defense buys each year."
https://popular.info/p/there-is-always-more-money-for-defense
Judd Legum
5. What would be the impact on national security if the military budget was $786 billion next year instead of $886 billion?
That isn't discussed.
Instead, support for more and more military spending is equated with "supporting the troops" and "keeping people safe."
Judd Legum
4. Last year, the US spent more on its military than the next 10 highest-spending countries combined.
Some hawks dismiss this statistic, claiming that countries like China have more "purchasing power"
This underscores the waste and abuse endemic to America's defense industry
Judd Legum
3. In 2015, the United States spent $585 billion on its military. The United States has added more than $300 billion in military spending in less than a decade.
Biden has added nearly $150 billion to the military budget since 2021, the last budget approved by President Trump.
Judd Legum
2. The deal, struck between McCarthy and Biden, includes a record a record $886 billion for defense, a 3.3% increase
That's EXACTLY what Biden requested in his 2024 budget
Notably, about half of that money will go to defense contractors.
https://popular.info/p/there-is-always-more-money-for-defense
GNU social JP is a social network, courtesy of GNU social JP管理人. It runs on GNU social, version 2.0.2-dev, available under the GNU Affero General Public License.
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.