After Industry Gives $10 Million to Congressional Defense Committee Members, DOD Receives Potential $45 Billion Spending Increase. If the FY23 Pentagon budget ultimately enacted indeed reaches the amount approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee – an outcome that is likely given the trajectory of the budget in previous years – the defense contractors will have clinched a return on its $10 million investment of nearly 450,000%.
The military-industrial complex maintains a potent political influence machine that extends far beyond campaign spending, and there’s no reason to doubt that the supporters of more Pentagon spending believe in what they are doing. But nor should anyone doubt that military-industrial complex campaign contributions both reward and encourage Congress to shovel money at the Pentagon – even as so many human needs and non-military security interests (like addressing pandemics or climate chaos) remain desperately underfunded.
— source citizen.org | Savannah Wooten, Rick Claypool | Jul 7, 2022