NY TIMES- These Are Heady Days for Makers of Weapons

[Jcrowley]

Heady Days for Makers of Weapons
By LESLIE WAYNE
Published: December 26, 2006

THESE are very good times for military contractors. Profits are up, their stocks are rising and Pentagon spending is reaching record levels. The only cloud might seem to be what the Democratic takeover of Congress could mean for their business. After all, this is an industry that has generally supported the Republican Party by sending about 60 percent of its political contributions to Republican candidates.

But, even so, few in the military industry are worried. Next year’s Pentagon budget is expected to exceed $560 billion, including spending for Iraq. And, sometime this spring, President Bush has indicated he will seek an additional $100 billion in supplemental spending in 2007 for Iraq and Afghanistan.

And no one expects Democrats, in the last two years of the Bush administration, to make major changes, especially with the war continuing. Democrats are sensitive to the charge of being “soft” on defense, and are expected to use their control of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees to establish their military bona fides for the 2008 presidential election. This would include Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who is an increasingly vocal member of the committee.

“I wouldn’t look for Democrats to make cuts in the defense budget,” said Michael O’Hanlan, a military expert at the Brookings Institution. “You didn’t hear a lot about the defense budget in the last campaign and the Democrats know that you don’t mess with the top line.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/business/26place.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[shain from kane]

1. Insanity starts in the head.

[CrispyQ]

2. In his new book, "Screwed: The Undeclared War on the Middle Class"

Thom Hartmann makes the excellent point that when a country spends it's dollars on infrastructure, like roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, etc. everyone gets return from those dollars for years to come. When those dollars go toward things like bullets & missiles, the value of that item is spent in one use.

War is a fucking waste.

[Bandit]

3. “I wouldn’t look for Democrats to make cuts in the defense budget,”

Me either..They have not demonstrated much difference at all between themselves and the Republicans..:shrug: