Meet 6 Politicians Getting Rich from America's Endless Wars

[ProfessionalLeftist]

War is a racket, and perpetual war is a money-printing machine. Though the defense industry as a whole contributes relatively little to members of Congress compared to, say, the pharmaceutical lobby, it remains an incredibly powerful and influential lobby. Below are the six members of the House whose primary industry donor in the 2012 election cycle was the defense sector. (Numbers are from the Center for Responsive Politics, unless otherwise noted.)

1. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA): $566,100 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations.

It's impossible to talk about defense industry beneficiaries without mentioning Buck McKeon. He became the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee in 2009, and then the chairperson after the GOP took the House in the 2010 election. Donations from the defense sector to his 2012 campaign dwarfed all other House campaigns, with McKeon bringing in a whopping $566,100.

. . .

2. CW “Bill” Young (R-FL): $229,760 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations.

Bill Young is the longest-serving Republican member of Congress, having served since 1970, and a long-time beneficiary of defense sector contributions. Since 1989, when CRP's data begins, Young has received $1,440,385 from defense PACs and individual contributors. And since at least 1998, defense sector contributions to Young's campaigns have been greater than from any other industry, often by staggering amounts. He is currently the chairperson of the defense appropriations subcommittee, a powerful position he has held on and off since the mid-1990s.

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http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/meet-6-politicians-getting-rich-americas-endless-wars

[patrice]

1. Where's the peace movement when it'll do some good? THREE Democrats in this list!!!

[ProfessionalLeftist]

2. Where IS the peace movement?

[patrice]

3. The ones I know are helping Occupiers keep it together on social & economic justice issues. nt

[patrice]

4. ... and the environment. nt

[patrice]

5. I reposted to FB, btw, except the line was "Where's a 3rd party, when you need one???"

[Cal Carpenter]

6. Based on my experience

the peace movement/leftists had a good run, with support of the more partisan Dem types, during the Bush years.

By the time Obama got elected, the more partisan Dem activists honestly believed that things would change in a major way with Obama. The more hard-left activists did not agree and wanted to keep pushing harder. Coalitions that worked well under Bush (common enemy) fell apart. People got burned out.

I am oversimplifying here, and I know individuals overlap between the two sort of categories of activists I am talking about, but this is what it looked like to me, and I have been quite active in the anti-war and pro-labor movement over the years.

[patrice]

7. People usually over-simplify and/or become over committed to absolutely the result

that they have predetermined should happen and NONE other and if not exactly that happens they self-identify as having lost and/or cop-out for the sake of other ambitions.

The hard core surrenders a lot of that stuff and does the work for the sake of just doing it. If we'd all move into the same state or neighborhood, we'd have more power.

[patrice]

8. Maybe somekind of real obvious success, other than just being right, e.g. Hubris, will change this??

[xchrom]

9. Du rec. Nt