Nervous defense contractors watching elections

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - After years of surging military spending by the Bush administration and a Republican-led Congress, the nation's defense industry is trying to gauge what life would be like if power on Capitol Hill shifts to the Democrats.
...
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, who's in line to take over the chairmanship of a key House Armed Services subcommittee, signaled a tough line during a telephone interview on Wednesday, denouncing the Iraq war as "Rumsfeld's folly."

"I'm not going to let the American military be used for a failed political policy," said Abercrombie, who's pressing for a withdrawal of U.S. troops. Asked when the pullout should begin, he responded: "How about this afternoon."
...
"We'll hear all these stories about soldiers who have to use their own cell phones to communicate, buying their own body armor," said Coyle, who was once the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer and is now a senior adviser for the Center for Defense Information, a research center. "I would see more emphasis on making sure the soldiers get what they need, number one, and number two, where is the money going if it's not helping the soldier."

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/15904955.htm

[Tempest]

1. Watch for the war profiteering CEOs to bail out

They know the investigations into profiteering and fraud will being in January.

[warrens]

23. Or JAIL out

How low can you get, short-changing troops in the field?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Hey, defense contactors!

[AlCzervik]

3. these fuckers have got some nerve, they're afraid their boondoggle gravy

train of war profiteering will be over.

[stillcool]

4. I'm so tired of fraud...

when do we get to call it embezzlement?

Embezzlement is the fraudulent appropriation by a person to his own use of property or money entrusted to that person's care but owned by someone else. For instance, a clerk or cashier can embezzle money from his employer; a public officer can embezzle funds from the treasury.

[blue agave]

5. "Defense Contractor" ???

Question to Freepers: WTF are "DEFENSE" contractor oportunists doing on foreign soil !!!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. Trying to restrain the Offense Contractors?

:shrug:

[Marie26]

6. When the Dems get in power,

we will find out about a level of corruption, embezzlement & war profiteering that's absolutely staggering in scope. Where did the money go? Defense contractors, Republican legislators, & the Bush Administration.

[acmejack]

7. Time for that sentimental favorite...

[Canuckistanian]

11. That chart always amazes me

Especially the 15% "X" slice. No wonder Shrub wants to "make the pie higher".

[petgoat]

12. According to this analysis, 67% of every tax dollar goes to

the Pentagon.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050605/NEWS/506050332/1030/FEATURES15&template=printart

[acmejack]

19. Amazing article!

That is really shocking! But we need to cut social spending...

[petgoat]

21. The rightwingers claiming all the spending goes for

social programs are lumping in stuff like Social Security and veterans' benefits
and Medicare as social programs.

Veterans' benefits should rightly be charged to military spending, and Social
Security and Medicare are funded from trusts and not from tax dollars.

The common statistics that show that military spending is just 18% of the pie
do not charge the Pentagon with the interest payments on its share of the debt,
either.

If you let the Pukes frame the issue, you've lost the debate before you've even
started.

[liberalla]

22. Well, it costs a lot to LOSE a war...

and to almost ruin the finest military in the world. That don't come cheap!
:sarcasm:

But seriously, this part really astounded me:

"This "little omission" is not so little: the Bureau of Economic Analysis computation of total federal government spending of $810.2 billion for calendar year 2004 excludes, incredibly, some $321.7 billion spent in net interest payments that (fiscal) year. Thus, for calendar year 2004, interest payments add $217.6 billion to defense spending, bringing that total to $765.6 billion. Non-defense federal spending thus rises to $366.2 billion."

[Jcrowley]

9. K & R n/t

[pa28]

10. Picture trembling bald guys under the lights of a Democratic oversight hearing.

We'll have to work overtime bringing these crooks to account.

[Az_lefty]

13. I knew nothing about Abercrombie before this..

but I really like the guys attitude.

[AwakeAtLast]

14. Soldiers can't wear their own body armor even if they buy it themselves

If they do and get injured or killed, they lose their benefits. Moot point. And soldiers don't use cell phones, they use internet phones, dipshit. God, he doesn't even know how soldiers communicate! :grr:

[Dragon Turtle]

16. You mean Phil Coyle?

[Brundle_Fly]

15. here is some more about him

http://www.house.gov/abercrombie/

[FernBell]

17. kick

[Zorra]

18. Uh-oh, time to sell my stock in Amalgamated Nuke and Napalm.

The profit on death and destruction was enormous while it lasted!

Maybe I'll try my hand as a carpetbagger fleecing Katrina victims down in New Orleans now.
:sarcasm:

[stepnw1f]

20. RICO anyone?

I'd love to stick it to these wealthy bastards making a profit from Bush's illegal and unjustifiable war.

[VaYallaDawg]

24. Ah, yes - the beautiful power of the House Subpoena!! n/t

[KansDem]

25. Too late...they've already made their millions/billions...

No matter what happens on Tuesday, the Bush Family and it's gang of thugs and cutthroats have already made fortunes from the past 6-12 years of scandals and corruption. I know, I know--it is important for the Dems to take Congress next week as a first step to put a stop to this mess and hold the criminals accountable, but millionaires have become billionaires with the Bush coup of 2000, so cutting them off with a Dem Congress is probably just an annoyance with these people. Perhaps they see the loss of Congress as a kind of "speedbump"--the cost of doing business. There'll be time later with a whole new gang of republicans.

I suspect they knew all along that their frauds and scams would eventually come to an end. Perhaps they wanted a little more time to make a few million more, but they'll no doubt be mostly satisfied with what they were able to grab thus far. They are sitting pretty while the rest of the world suffers...

Now, if there is a chance their wealth could be confiscated as restitution for their crimes, then LET'S RUMBLE!!!

[Jax]

26. Can't wait for Waxman to go for their jugular

scumbag criminals...