Ramesh Ponnuru, a Senior Editor at National Review, had the courage to call out the severe hypocrisy of the Republican Party when it comes to using federal tax money to help out their campaign contributors in the defense industry.
From Bloomberg View's The Republicans’ Most Hypocritical Economic Argument:
The Republican position on federal spending could not be clearer: It doesn’t create jobs. Except when it goes to defense contractors.
Under the debt-ceiling deal reached last year, planned spending is going to be “sequestered” -- that is, cut -- starting next January. The defense budget is going to take half the hit.
This hypocrisy vis a vis the military-industrial complex is known to anyone even casually following American politics and is one of the reasons the GOP's rhetoric on "spending cuts" is usually followed by an eye roll from the audience.
Ponnuru continues.
Needless to say, on the theory that the Republicans are advancing, the federal budget can never be cut. The U.S. Conference of Mayors will be able to say that cuts in social spending will devastate the economy of our cities with at least as much justice as defense-heavy areas can complain about cuts to the military. Rural areas can say the same thing about farm subsidies.
So much for principle. The reality is everyone has their hand out, Republicans especially.
The Bloomberg Government study listed the 10 states that depend the most on defense dollars. Seven of them voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, and an eighth, Virginia, has usually voted Republican in presidential races. So the party’s interest in keeping defense jobs makes political sense.
Jobs for constituents and campaign cash from contractors not fiscal responsibility drive the GOP's agenda. This of course is not news to those paying attention but it is always worth reiterating when the GOP noise machine prattles on about their "principles." Politics is politics, you stand where you sit.
As we approach "sequestration" in January - an event triggered by Republicans refusal to raise the debt ceiling without spending cuts - it would be good to keep in mind why Republicans will be frantically trying to spare the defense budget. They will not be fighting for the country's security but their own political interests.