Defense Industry Doesn't Have Much To Fear...Yet

Now that the Democrats are in full control of the government, what exactly does that mean to the behemoth military-industrial complex? Well, probably not too much at the moment. Obama seems fully committed to raising the stakes in Afghanistan, even if it comes at the expense of throwing money in the general direction of Iraq. The only thing they have to worry about is not getting a piece of the economic stimulus pie.

From RawStory:

Many in the industry would like to see an increase in money for the military included in the roughly $800 billion stimulus package proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.

Leaders in the industry realize the slim chances of that happening, however, and are focused instead on preventing cuts in defense accounts to make room for the growing stimulus.

"The defense industry’s main goal right now is to avoid being a bill payer," said Loren B. Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a conservative think tank, and a consultant to defense contractors. "They know they are not going to get more money. They just don’t want to end up being the piggy bank for other projects."

Aww, if only I could muster a single, solitary tear for those poor, poor war profiteers. They have trouble realizing that their industry of death and destruction is a large part of the problem in our societ. Billions upon billions are wasted on not-so-smart weapons and other toys designed to kill people when a fraction of those projects could fund our public education system, universal health care, job training programs and so much more.

A Republican by the name of Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us of the potential power these companies could have 50 years ago. Though even Ike could not have imagined just how big they'd get. If he were in office today I'd have more hope of change in this regard. For now, I pray Obama will keep them where they're at, and then slowly but surely make war a less profitable and desirable business. Long ago merchants of war were universally despised....and it can happen yet again.