Defense Crony Capitalism: “bill pays for three littoral combat ships despite the Navy’s request for just a single ship and Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer’s insistence that no more were needed.”

One of the hardest things to convey to many “conservatives” is the degree of cronyism built into the defense business. The military is big government too. Massive government. But the military is the way Republicans (particularly) redistribute taxpayer money to THEIR constituencies. That is a fact.

But many “conservatives” don’t want to hear it. They often hide behind the “defense is authorized in the Constitution” bit. And they are right. DEFENSE is authorized. Jacking the taxpayers for empire is not.

Meanwhile the everyday American with no contact with the military or military industrial complex gets to foot the bill for yet more government. They get to pay for weapons the military says it doesn’t even need. There are an whole lot of people who don’t get a defense department retirement check. Or a welfare check. Or a subsidy to our business. Or a huge tax break on a $100,000 car made in California. Many of us just PAY. Taxes are a black whole for many Americans and these sorts of contracts are part of the problem. Sorry “conservatives.”

(From The Washington Examiner)

The three-ship buy is not unexpected because Shelby’s state of Alabama is home to the Austal USA shipyard that builds the Independence-variant LCS. Lockheed Martin builds its Freedom variant in Wisconsin…

… Rep. Kay Granger, the Texas chairwoman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has an F-35 assembly plant in her district and backed the higher number as the appropriations bill wound through Congress.

Click here for the article.

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/