Raytheon and certain members of Congress want our lunch money

September 11, 2013

Voices, Politics / Current Events

Bless your heart if you believe our current Syria docudrama is about Team America’s moral outrage.  If so, you might also believe that Goldman Sach’s $1 million political contribution to Obama had no influence on his treasury appointments and the eventual multi-billion public dollar give-away to the orchestrators of the largest financial crisis the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, in this modern iteration of our “democracy,” our government’s moral outrage is often dictated by those greasing the gears. In this case, the $65 million put out by the war industry lobby is doing the greasing.  And they don’t fork out that kind of cheese for diplomacy and peace treaties. 

Yes, every sane person can agree that the killing of men, women and children by chemical weapons is horrendous.  As I would hope that every sane person would find the obliteration of children by unmanned aircraft in a sovereign nation we are not at war with as equally reprehensible.  For a nation to press for a strike on a sovereign nation amidst an illegal war that is still affecting millions of people in two countries, with thousands of people dead, while holding “detainees” in a military prison for the last decade without charges takes a particular kind of brazen belligerence. 

And yet, that belligerence makes sense given the incestuous relationship our government has with the war industry as well as Obama’s proclivity to forwarding  the Bush regime’s Project for the New American Century.  It could be Syria, Iran or any other Islam-flavored embodiment of evil of the day and the systemic forces at work within our political structure behoove certain members of Congress to push for military action.  Let’s just say, it’s in their best interest. 

Many people don’t know this, but many members of Congress actually hold stock in companies that make billions of dollars in profit off American tax payers for wartime activities.  Let’s take a look at a few of the top war contractors as examples:

Raytheon Company (Formerly Raytheon Missile Systems): In 2012 Raytheon gave over $3.5 million in political contributions with nearly $90,000 going to Obama.  The company spent nearly $7.5 million on lobbying.  Ten members of Congress currently hold stock in the company and 53 out of 68 of Raytheon’s lobbyists were formerly working in U.S. government. Raytheon is also the maker of the Tomahawk cruise missile, the likely weapon of choice for the Syria strike. Any action in Syria would be a windfall for the company and for those ten congressional members who own stock.

Lockheed Martin: In 2012 the company gave over $4 million in political contributions and spent over $15 million on lobbying.  Obama received over $127,000 from Lockheed. Five members of Congress hold stock in Lockheed Martin and 67 out of Lockheed’s 92 lobbyists were formerly employed by the government.

Boeing Co.: In 2012 the company gave over $3 million in political contributions and spent over $15.5 million on lobbying.  Obama received $150,000 from Boeing.  12 members of Congress hold stock in Boeing and 89 of Boeing’s 115 lobbyists were formerly employed by the U.S. government.

Northrop Grumman: In 2012 the company gave over $3 million in political contributions and spent nearly $18 million on lobbying.  Obama received over $109,000 from the company.  4 members of Congress currently hold stock in Northrop Grumman and 34 of Northrop’s 49 lobbyists are former government workers.

United Technologies: In 2012 the company gave over $2 million in political contributions and spent over $14 million on lobbying.  Obama received $27,000 from the company.  17 members of Congress currently hold stock in United Technologies and 51 out of United’s 65 lobbyists were former government employees. 

This is just a small sample of war contractors who are literally in bed with Congress.  When we do away with the propaganda and the emotional forces being manipulated in the media and focus on the systemic ties that our elected officials have with the war industry, the motives for much of the U.S. belligerence becomes clear.  When Congress is allowed to play this game, they’re not lying when they claim that they’re investing in America’s future.




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Benito Aragon

Benito Aragon is co-founder of New Mexico Mercury and was born and raised in Albuquerque's North Valley. He received his B.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of New Mexico and Master's in mass communication with a specialization in documentary film production from the University of Florida. He co-produced the award winning documentary, Seasoned Veteran: Journey of a Winter Soldier about Scott Camil, which was added to the DVD release of the film Wintersoldier.

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