"Fix the Debt"- Defense Contractor Ties Exposed

[Chef Eric]

Source: Washington Monthly

By Samuel Knight

Nothing exposes GOP flailing about debt for the fraud that it is like defense budget scrutiny. When genuine deficit hawks point out how bloated and porky the Pentagon has become, Republican Keynesians come out of the woodwork in droves.

So it comes as no surprise that a leading balance-the-budget corporate lobby has been found to have extensive ties to defense contractors.

According to The Public Accountability Initiative, the group Fix The Debt - which advocates for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security cuts while pushing corporate tax reform - has 38 leaders with “ties to 43 companies with defense contracts totaling $42.3 billion in 2012.”

Boeing’s CEO W. James McNerney is among those on the group’s CEO Council, and Northrop Grumman board member Vic Fazio is on Fix the Debt’s steering committee. Other Fix the Debt linked companies with over $1 billion in defense contracts in 2012 include GE, Textron, Honeywell, and World Fuel Services.



Read more: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_12/fix_the_debts_fiscal_bluff_def041886.php

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More information here:
http://public-accountability.org/2012/12/operation-fiscal-bluff/

Why are cuts to Social Security on the table? Partly because the MIC says that's the way it has to be.

[Berlum]

1. Occultist Republican Family Greedhead Values

As usual.

Greedy war-mongering chickenhawk Republican bastards.

[msongs]

2. you could easily substitute "democrat" for republican and be equally as true nt

[Berlum]

3. Freakin false equivalence

[msongs]

4. conservative and third way dems are as in bed with the corporatists as any republicans nt

[Ash_F]

5. Maybe, but the first step towards repairing the party is admitting there is a problem.

Even on DU, rampart militarism is accepted. We can start by not accepting it.

[Chef Eric]

7. There are several prominent Democrats involved with Fix the Debt

including Ed Rendell, Vic Fazio, and Antonio R. Villaraigosa.

http://www.fixthedebt.org/who-we-are

Fewer Democrats than Republicans, but still too many.

[think]

6. MIC astroturf group promotes cuts in social safety net to protect it's profits. Nice....

Conclusion

With a $60 million budget that is heavily focused on public relations, Fix the Debt has
tremendous power to shape the “fiscal cliff” conversation in Washington and beyond. Fix the
Debt’s priorities are bound to be amplified in the media and gain traction in policy talks. So far,
the group has chosen to prioritize social safety net cuts over defense spending cuts.
Fix the Debt’s extensive ties to defense contractors suggest that this focus on social safety net
spending is an all-too-convenient policy stance for the group. As this report documents, its
backers have billions of dollars in financial incentives to keep defense spending cuts off the
table.

If Fix the Debt’s leaders were truly serious about reducing the federal budget deficit, defense
spending cuts would be a priority for the group. Instead, it is aiming its firepower at the social
safety net, focusing blame on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security recipients – and
distracting attention from the way the defense budget is funneling public dollars into the
pocketbooks of its wealthy corporate backers....

http://public-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/Operation-Fiscal-Bluff-final.pdf

[Is That All There Is]

8. The unfortunate side Effect

Of the defense cuts would fall disproportional on the troops. Junior and the Enlisted. The big boy toys that benefit certain Congressional Districts, and not necessarily what wins wars, will still be funded fully. They would balance the budget on the backs of the lowest ranks and put them more in danger than ever. Senior leadership and Congress is more than happy to use Our Troops as hostages to take care of their buddies. So just saying cut the defense budget is not enough, those cuts have to be itemized so as not to hurt funding in places that really need it.

[underpants]

9. I say I say those "cuts" that you Yankee folks are a-speaking 'bout would cost the South JOBS

The reason the Republicans are so afraid of defence cuts is because much of the South relies on HUGE DoD spending for their economies

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

10. Yes, we'd hate to see layoffs at Academi

or Blackwater or Xe, whatever they call themselves.

[underpants]

11. Academi

thanks- I went looking for the name of that company a few weeks ago and it was nowhere to be found in any news story. "Security contractor" and the like was all that I could find and I specifically googling looking for it. No coincidence I am sure.

[maxrandb]

12. It's only "Socialism" if it benefits the "little" people

When it benefits asshats like the CEO of Boeing, it's "sound government".

I swear Napoleon was right; "religion is what keeps the poor from eating the rich".