Eyes Wide Shut, America: The Military Industrial Complex is Alive and Well in the US

I have recently completed an online government training course that I am required to take for an upcoming assignment. While taking the course and clicking the links for associated information, I stumbled upon a fascinating spreadsheet published by our very own government on contractors and "top dollars" paid out in 2008. The results shouldn't have surprised me at all (and didn't), but I know there are a lot of people out there who don't have access or the ability to research or the time to connect the dots, so I've done some of it here.

As we all know, KBR has gotten a tremendous amount of bad PR for their role as the US Army's "private army" for many years. From overseeing faulty electrical wiring that shocked soldiers/contractors to sexual assault of female employees, they've been everyone's favorite bad guys to call out in a still-escalating and increasingly unpopular war. But today, boys and girls, we're going to broaden our awareness and look at some players who leave KBR in the dust.

You may not have realized that there are at least 3 other companies out there who make substantially more off the government (and thus, you and I since we're the ones paying taxes) than KBR. I'm only calling out 3 here in the interest of time.

In 2008, these guys made this much money off the government/us:

Lockheed Martin - $99,143,578,144.77

The Boeing Company - $68,274,856,849.29

Northrop Grumman - $61,656,446,770.83

KBR - $17,973,307,533.48

What do you remember hearing about the first three? Probably not as much as you heard about KBR. 

But let's look at what the companies are doing for the government, and us as taxpayers. 

You already know that KBR has been overseas setting up base camps for the military, running laundries, building roads, organizing mail service, that sort of thing. Their LOGCAP contracts (Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program) have been going on for at least a couple of decades. Overall, they work for 4 main government "groups":

Here's what I found interesting: out of the 39 different government groups tracked for federal contracting dollars, Lockheed works in 32 of them, Northrop works with 28, and Boeing works with 16. No wonder their total 2008 dollars are 5, 3, and almost 4 times, respectively, as much as KBR's. 

Who's watching all of this for us, the taxpayers?

Some might say that the aerospace and defense projects that these 3 work on are considerably more costly than running a laundry at a base camp. I would counter with "but did you also know that Lockheed works with the following government groups":

Fed govt-wide, Commerce, Justice, Labor, Navy, State, Treasury, Army, GSA, Air Force, EPA, Transportation, Homeland Security, Health & Human Svcs, NASA, HUD, Energy, Education, DOD, Tricare Management, Defense Threat Reduction, DCMA, Defense Microelectronics, US Transcom, DARPA, Defense Information, Defense Logistics, Defense Finance, DEA, Washington HQ, Missile Defense, and US Special Ops.

I was surprised to see Tricare Management on the list for Lockheed. I had no idea that an aerospace defense company was in the health insurance management business.  Although, if I've learned nothing else over the past year, I've learned how much money there is to be made in the health insurance industry! (For those that don't know, Tricare is the revised name for CHAMPUS, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services.) Of course, I also never thought about them working for the Commerce, Justice, Labor, HUD, HHS, Energy, Education, etc. departments either.

For the record, Boeing works with Fed Govt-wide, Navy, Army, Air Force, Homeland Security, NASA, Energy, DOD, Defense Threat Reduction, DCMA, Defense Microelectronics, US Transcom, DARPA, Defense Logistics, Missile Defense, and US Special Ops.

Northrop works with Fed Govt-wide, Interior, Justice, Navy, State, Treasury, Army, VA, GSA, Air Force, Transportation, Homeland Security, H&HS, NASA, Energy, DOD, Defense Threat Reduction, DCMA, Defense Microelectronics, US Transcom, DARPA, Defense Information, Defense Logistics, Defense Finance, Defense Media, Washington HQ, Missile Defense, and US Special Ops.

I think $229+ BILLION for the top 3 is a lot of money. It's about 25% of the total $919 BILLION spent by all 39 government departments/groups for 2008. This is almost a TRILLION dollars! 

Haven't we heard some people griping about the deficit increasing by a trillion dollars lately because the American people are interested in something as absurd as HEALTHCARE and a public option or something like that? What morons we are. The public has no options, ever.

And I did a little more research.

Senator Inouye (HI) is Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. His top campaign contributor in 2008 was ... wait for it ... Lockheed Martin. (Boeing was #3.) Now, that is not to say that others on the committee didn't receive similar contributions from other groups, but doesn't it look a little convenient / fishy / like a conflict of interest / like something unpleasant being shoved up our rear ends, again? For the record, there are 17 other members of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Four of eleven Dems and three of eight Repubs get campaign $ from defense companies--about equal percentages. (www.votesmart.org)

What does any of this mean?

It means we need to pay attention to what's going on right before our very eyes. 

The companies who stand to profit the most from an ongoing war are the ones financing the campaigns of the Defense appropriations decision-makers in Congress and thus ensuring that profits from said wars continue.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being made a fool of by the very people who are supposed to represent me and protect my interests.

Perhaps I'd matter more if I had "Lockheed" tattooed on my ass.