CONGRESS added 25 billion more than what was requested by the Biden-Harris administration to the Defense Authorization Act, this report from Roll Call reminds us of who has bought too many members of congress to the detriment of America, especially our children, poor, working poor and middle class. Eisenhower and King both warned our nation and Christ Himself blessed the peacemakers as well as those who provide for the least among us. AND these donations prove the military-industrial complex is not interested in a strong American military to defend our democracy. NO, they are war profiteers, and they do not give a damn about the American people or our men and women in uniform.
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." --Dwight D. Eisenhower
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." - Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr
Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount
5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
The Beatitudes
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Defense contractors bankrolled campaigns of election objectors
Leading firms that paused contributions after the Jan. 6 riot quickly renewed their giving
Leading defense contractors were among the most generous corporate contributors to the campaigns of members of Congress who voted not to certify the 2020 presidential election results in Arizona or Pennsylvania, according to a report made public Monday by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
The contributions from the defense companies’ political action committees flowed steadily in 2021 to the reelection campaigns of dozens of election objectors and to Republicans’ Senate and House campaign committees and leadership PACs, the report said, after some of those companies had halted such payments after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
The rioters acted in response to an incendiary speech by President Donald Trump as lawmakers debated whether to turn away presidential electors from Arizona. After the riot, the House and Senate reconvened and rejected the GOP motion, 121-303 in the House and 6-93 in the Senate. Another pair of votes objecting to electors from Pennsylvania was rejected 138-282 in the House and 7-92 in the Senate. All of those in favor were Republicans.
Since then, the Boeing Company has given $346,500 to GOP campaign committees or election objectors' campaigns, more than any other company, the report said.
Separately, Boeing contributed to state attorneys general who have filed suits to overturn the 2020 elections in four battleground states, CREW found.
Other top-10 defense contractors' PACs also made the list of leading direct or indirect contributors to Republicans who voted not to certify the 2020 results. They are:
- General Dynamics: $233,500
- Lockheed Martin Corp.: $205,000
- L3Harris Technologies Inc.: $173,000
- Northrop Grumman Corp.: $151,000
- Raytheon Co.: $150,500
Contribution freeze was short lived
Of those, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon stand out because they froze donations for a while after Jan. 6.
At the time, Boeing issued a statement noting, in part: “We will continue to carefully evaluate future contributions to ensure that we support those who not only support our company, but also uphold our country’s most fundamental principles.”
Also last January, after Lockheed Martin froze its own political contributions after the Capitol riot, the company said in a statement that it “routinely evaluates and updates our political action committee contribution strategy to reflect our core values and the constantly changing political landscape and priorities.”
Since last January, however, donations to GOP members and campaign committees from Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon “have exceeded half a million dollars, including donations to some of the most anti-democratic members,” the CREW report said.
On Monday, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said, “Our employee PAC program continues to observe long-standing principles of non-partisan political engagement in support of our business interests.“
A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment on Monday about the CREW report. Raytheon did not reply by Monday evening to a request for comment.
GOP election objectors sit on key defense panels
Of course, defense contractors regularly give campaign contributions to members of the congressional committees that oversee defense spending.
In this Congress, those oversight panels include numerous Republicans who voted against certifying state election results.
In fact, the majority of GOP members of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense voted against certifying those results.
So did three Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee: Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rick Scott of Florida.
Defense contractors' contributions formed just a subset of the findings in the CREW report. All told, the group said, 717 corporations and industry trade groups contributed $18 million to 143 of the 147 members who voted not to certify voters’ presidential pick in 2020, their leadership PACs or to GOP campaign committees.
On the other hand, the report said, half of the 250 companies that froze contributions after the Jan. 6 riots have continued to withhold them from those who sought to thwart congressional certification of the election results.
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