Occasionally,
what you wish for turns out to be something you didn’t really want. The United
States wished for, and got, a laissez-faire Capitalist economy.
From the late 1800’s through the 20th Century, this brand of
economic structure worked pretty darn well. We have been witness to the
maturation of the Industrial Revolution, the dawn of the Electronic Age, and
now we find ourselves at a crossroads, of sort. What we do with what we have is
going to define our Society for a very long time to come.
There
has been a recent and very staggering increase in the division of wealth in
this Country. The top 2% are laughing all the way to the bank. The Middle Class
has all but disappeared. The ranks of the working poor and impoverished are
growing exponentially. The democratic style of government we chose has grown
into this behemoth of a bureaucracy that is crumbling under its own weight. In
keeping pace, our business sectors have run the table with tax breaks and
subsidies (Corporate Welfare). They have perfected this to the point where the
U.S. has a fast dwindling tax base with which to operate. If you are on the
outside looking in, you might wonder what the problem is. We seem to have
enough money, so why are we in such a crisis?
The
answer to that is GREED. Most
of the working populace has traditionally relied on business ownership and
management to “do the right thing”. We believed that there was good in all
humankind, and that the owners of the wealth would not forget who got them
where they are today. It’s bad enough that “We the People”
are getting the short end of the stick from business, finance, and
manufacturing. Our own Government is sticking it to us at the same time. I give
you the Military/Industrial Complex.
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After
half a Century of paying lip service to the perils of this consortium, we have
done nothing at all to close the wound and stop the bleeding. The vicious cycle
of campaign funding, lobbying, politics, running an arms race with no real
opponent, and lining the pockets of a chosen few has this Nation broken down
and in the ditch. Someone in this game has to blink sooner than later. We do
have a lot of money, but the well is running dry at an alarming rate.
The big question is, “Where do you start?”
Below is a list of the top 20 defense contractors based on their 2009 defense
contract revenue. The numbers reflect what the Company actually made on their “corporate
welfare” contracts. The contracts, themselves, have numbers whose zeroes would
run off the page. The political will of the People can break the cycle right
here.
Rank
|
Top Defense Companies
|
Defense Revenue
($ Millions - 2009) |
1
|
$11,904
|
|
2
|
$9,324
|
|
3
|
$8,189
|
|
4
|
$6,187
|
|
5
|
$4,730
|
|
6
|
$4,545
|
|
7
|
$4,108
|
|
8
|
$3,656
|
|
9
|
$2,221
|
|
10
|
$1,894
|
|
11
|
$1,690
|
|
12
|
$1,659
|
|
13
|
$1,589
|
|
14
|
$1,330
|
|
15
|
$1,320
|
|
16
|
$1,006
|
|
17
|
$1,005
|
|
18
|
$994
|
|
18
|
$987
|
|
20
|
$912
|
Source: Washington Technology - 2010 Top 100 [1]
These Companies, along with hoards of
others, treat out National Treasury like their own personal ATM card.
You certainly recognize
most of them, and, of note, are the Corporations that are Foreign, and, as
such, pose a threat to the security of Military manufacturing capabilities of
the U.S.
- “…BAE has described the rationale
for expansion in the US; "[it] is by far the largest defense market
with spend running close to twice that of the Western European nations
combined. Importantly, US investment in research and development is
significantly higher than in Western Europe." The company's 2004
strategy review confirmed a "strategic bias" for expansion and investment
in the US… “ [2]
- DRS Technologies Inc. is a US-based defense contractor. Previously traded on the NYSE, the company was purchased by the Italian firm Finmeccanica in October 2008. [3]
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