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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: WAR - Who Benefits? Who benefits? Corporations, according to the Supreme Court, are legally equivalent to "natural persons." These patriotic corporate citizens are normally satisfied with the day-to-day political influence which brings them little (or no) taxes, subsidies ($1.5 billion to Big Oil) and immunity from criminal prosecution for damaging us. But when it's wartime for the troops it's showtime for the elite. A War For Freedom has to be financed, so the banks' profits jump. We neeed equipment, so armaments makes a bundle. And Big Oil pumps up its profits with high octane. United They Stand, The Sky's The Limit. Let all the casualties be on the battlefield, not on Wall Street, because not all natural persons are created equal. So the Pentagon starts deploying troops and writing 'corporate welfare' checks to benefit corporations. We make war to make profits. It's a rich man's war and a poor man's fight, and corporations plus their congressional friends are behind it all. Think of it as War, Inc. Lockheed Martin Corp....... $27,320,616,068 All this money isn't just to sustain the US-based "arsenal of democracy." With almost no congressional oversight and even less public awareness, the US has more than doubled the size of the U.S. occupation through the use of private war companies. There are almost 200,000 private "contractors" deployed in Iraq by Washington. This means that U.S. military forces in Iraq are now outsized by a coalition of billing corporations whose actions go largely unmonitored and whose crimes are virtually unpunished. President Eisenhower warned against the Military-Industrial Complex -- now it's called the Military-Industrial-Congress Complex, as weapons manufacturers have assembled sub-contractors in every state, e.g. the F-22 has a thousand of them in 42 states. All this money is attractive to congressional representatives. Secret military spending gets little oversight -- By Matt Kelley and Jim Drinkard, USA TODAY WASHINGTON . .It took more than a decade for Mitchell Wade to turn his company, MZM Inc., from a small-time Pentagon consulting firm into a booming business that had nearly $200 million in government contracts. A USA TODAY analysis of MZM-related campaign contributions shows how the company's growth and its political activities became intertwined at key moments. In more than 30 instances, donations from MZM's political action committee or company employees went to two members of the House Appropriations Committee --- Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-CA and Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. -- in the days surrounding key votes or contract awards that helped MZM grow. For example, MZM's political action committee gave Cunningham $5,000 in 2003 the day before his appointment to a congressional panel negotiating the final version of the defense budget. Ten days later, the day after the House passed the final Pentagon spending bill, Wade gave Cunningham $2,000. Both lawmakers sit on the subcommittee overseeing the Pentagon's spending and have acknowledged putting language in bills that created or expanded contracts that went to MZM. Even the honest representaitives are seduced by Pentagon dolars flowing into their districts. Now it's called the Military-Industrial-Congress Complex, as weapons manufacturers have assembled sub-contractors in every state, e.g. the F-22 has a thousand of them in 42 states. On any war or bombing issue most establishment Republicans and Democrats are in favor and most of them are hungry for military spending in their districts. Some examples, from their websites: Abercrombie, Neil , 1st HI par The U.S. House of Representatives today approved the 2009 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill, which contains $553 million in military construction funding for Hawaii requested by U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and authorized in the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act. Adler, John H. , 3rd NJ Congressman John Adler announced today that military bases in southern New Jersey will receive more than seven million dollars in federal investments for construction, facility improvement, and energy efficiency projects. These projects, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which Adler helped pass into law, will improve the quality of life for local troops and their families. Altmire, Jason , 4th PA As part of his on-going efforts to keep good paying jobs in the Alle-Kiski Valley, U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04) today delivered $800,000 in federal funding to Curtiss-Wright Electro-Mechanical Division (EMD) to help them develop an advanced propulsion motor for the U.S. Navy' s new electric drive ships. Arcuri, Michael A. , 24th NY U.S. Rep. Michael A. Arcuri (NY-24) released the following statement today in opposition to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gatesrquote recommendation to terminate the new Marine One Helicopter program, which is led by Lockheed Martin in Owego: " Our troops deserve the best protection while serving our country and so does our Commander-in-chief. I strongly disagree with the Secretary of Defenserquote s proposal to drop the Marine One program. I will continue to work with Congressman Hinchey and our two U.S. Senators to ensure that the Commander-in-chief receives the best protection, and that our neighbors in Owego at Lockheed Martin continue doing the work." Bartlett, Roscoe, 6th MD Congressman Roscoe Bartlett Announces $25.7 Million in Additional Federal Funding that He Secured for Defense Projects by Companies in District Six and Maryland in the FY 2009 Budget. And they work together on getting more military dollars. WASHINGTON D.C. -- Today, the entire Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations united in a joint effort to create new, good-paying jobs at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) in Kittery, Maine. In a letter to the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations, the bipartisan group of lawmakers urged the Department of Navy to increase the permanent workforce at the Maine-based shipyard to help mitigate weakness in the regional labor market and increase overall employee productivity and quality of life. Why don't we do the right thing? "When mainstream media complains about the war -- they do so carefully, because too many people in this country benefit in one way or another from the American warfare-welfare state. To do the right thing at the national level will cost the government -- Republicans and Democrats -- credibility (Why did we go? Why didn't we come home sooner?) and budget justification (no war on terror through occupation and aggression, no need for DHS, or a half trillion a year Pentagon budget). To do the right thing will cost -- in the short term -- actual jobs in districts who get tax dollars for products relating to maintenance and expansion of our global military empire."--Karen Kwiatkowski So we don't do the right thing because citizens and their representatives think that they benefit from war. Actually, they don't, as Smedley Butler said: " It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many." Poster Comment: How would our society be different without endless needless wars? How could that mountain of resources be directed toward the improvement of conditions for all mankind? We are not talking about a trivial sum here. The U.S. Defense Budget alone exceeds now ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. How many roads, bridges, schools, parks, and playgrounds could you build for that sum? How many lives would be improved rather than destroyed? The transformation upon our society would be so profound in so many positive ways that it is hard to predict. Certainly, we have the resources, and the ability, to create a true golden age, but that cannot occur with the shattering of the bond to the war addiction.
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#6. To: Original_Intent (#0)
For example, MZM's political action committee gave Cunningham $5,000 in 2003 the day before his appointment to a congressional panel negotiating the final version of the defense budget. Ten days later, the day after the House passed the final Pentagon spending bill, Wade gave Cunningham $2,000. Both lawmakers sit on the subcommittee overseeing the Pentagon's spending and have acknowledged putting language in bills that created or expanded contracts that went to MZM. What a watered down report about MZM Inc. (since renamed Athena Innovative Solutions Inc.) that is. There was much more comprehensive info about that company at LF. Here's an excerpt from an internet search that gives a clearer picture of it than that report does but still not much about Cunningham, et al.: Domestic Espionage Linked to Corrupt MZM, Inc. [links at site] posted 29th November 2005 in Liberty, Mysteries by jclifford I admit it, I actually exclaimed, “Holy Gee Willikers!” when I saw just what company would be carrying out the spying operations against ordinary Americans under contract with the CIFA, the military intelligence agency that will soon be given the power by the Bush Administration to scour commercial records for details about your private life – in the style of Total Information Awareness. It’s MZM, Inc. Yes, that’s right, the very same MZM, Inc. that has just been caught giving huge bribes to Republican Congressman Randy Cunningham – and suspiciously large gifts to Representatives Katherine and Virgil Goode as well. So, folks, it’s not just an issue that the Bush Republicans are arranging for the military agency, CIFA, to gather records about all your private, legal, activities. They’re also hiring a firm infamous for serious corruption to do it. Just consider – if you were to pick any company to spy on Americans’ private lives, what would be the last company you’d choose? I know the last company I would choose is one that had been caught bribing members of Congress. Well, maybe Halliburton would be tied for last place. Who would have thought that the whole Tom DeLay – Jack Abramoff corruption scandal would have found its way back to the insanity of the Total Information Awareness program? I’ve looked myself at the unclassified government record that documents the use of MZM, Inc. in the plan to gather information about law-abiding citizens by the CIFA, and, for the record, here are the other companies involved in the plot: [end excerpt]
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