Obama's clever scheme: U.S. fighter sales soar in time for campaign

[Karmadillo]

http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-u-fighter-sales-soar-time-campaign-221322593.html

Analysis: U.S. fighter sales soar in time for campaign
By Jim Wolf | Reuters – 16 hrs ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Booming Middle East purchases of U.S. fighter jets will be a bright spot in what is expected to be a sluggish economy in 2012, possibly paying dividends for President Barack Obama's bid for a second term.

Beneficiaries include Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, whose respective F-16 and F-15 production lines are being extended by U.S. government sales to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman, among other rich arms deals announced in recent weeks.

The foreign sales will help offset expected cuts in big-ticket purchases by the Defense Department, which is set to lose at least $450 billion in previously projected funding through 2021 as part of a deficit-reduction push. Additional cuts totaling another $500 billion to $600 billion over the same period are scheduled to kick in next year unless a new deficit-reduction plan is adopted by Congress.

The sales of fighters, missiles and other advanced U.S. weapons will help provide jobs as the United States heads into an election campaign expected to focus on the domestic economy. It has been growing at only half the pace needed to get the jobless rate down from 8.6 percent, a problem for Obama as the incumbent.

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[ProSense]

1. Interesting!

"Obama's clever scheme: U.S. fighter sales soar in time for campaign"

Obama is trying to win the election by selling U.S. fighter jets to try to improve the sluggish economy?

Clever!

[elehhhhna]

2. Time to rescind the Nobel

[loudsue]

3. When just 20% of that would fund education in this country for the next 20 years.

I'm so sick of this shit.

[GoCubsGo]

4. Tell that to the Saudis and the Omanis.

They are the ones who will be spending the money, not this country.

[elehhhhna]

6. they pay with our foreign aid money.

wealth transfer. taxpayer to MIC, and the creepy governments get more weapons.

[GoCubsGo]

7. More likely, it's the oil money.

[hack89]

9. Foreign aid to Saudi Arabia is banned by US law

UAE does not receive significant (if any) US foreign aid. UAE is a major foreign aid donor - the distribute $2.5 billion annually in foreign aid.

[Ineeda]

10. Wait

What does the Nobel have to do with anything? To both you and Loudsue, this is private enterprise, selling the products they make. It takes nothing away from education funding, not is it Obama war-mongering.

So, an American company, that otherwise would be losing money and jobs because the US has cut its military spending (that's good, right?), will be selling their products to foreign countries who could buy similar products elsewhere. As I see it, U.S. companies benefit, the U.S. workforce benefits, and hopefully, corporate taxes are levied on the companies. I dislike the MIC, and war and weapons of any kind as much as the next Dem, but let's face the reality that the companies that make these products exist and there is a demand for those products. If, indeed, foreign aid funds that we give those countries comes back to the U.S., that's ok by me.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. So, it would be OK for them to sell to Cuba? Iran?

[Ineeda]

14. Straw man

That is prohibited by law.

[Robb]

5. 50,000 jobs per the article.

I can live with that!

[i_sometimes]

8. That is nice...

Those who will be killed by these war planes may not.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. The MIC makes another killing with killing machines. And, the OK of our government.

[kenny blankenship]

13. Long Live Death!