Pentagon set to buy 375 F-35 fighter jets that can’t fly
from Win Without War
https://winwithoutwar.org/?akid=8037.280648.y_mQOe&rd=1&sorce=akhead&t=1
"The non-partisan GAO recently found that, “an increasing number of F-35s have not been able to fly because they don't have a working engine.
Win Without War doesn’t have an aerospace engineer on staff, but we’re pretty sure a working engine is an integral part of a plane. So it’s mind boggling that the Pentagon recently announced a new deal to spend $30 BILLION more on another 375 F-35s.
Why is our government so committed to a flawed plane? Well, it might be a coincidence, but over the last 20 years the weapons industry has spent $285 million in political donations and $2.5 BILLION on lobbying to gain influence. What’s more, last summer an investigation found that at least 47 members of Congress or their spouses hold stock in weapons corporations.
Let’s break that down: Taxpayer money is redistributed to weapons corporations by the same people cashing checks from the weapons lobby. It’s corruption, plain and simple — and when you’re talking about weapons and war, the consequences are life or death.
This year, key committees across the House and Senate voted to add F-35s above and beyond the Pentagon’s request during the debate on the National Defense Authorization Act. But it’s not just fighter jets – this sort of corruption spans from sky to sea.
Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, just unveiled a new push to spend BILLIONS more on boats that the president didn't request, that weren’t authorized by Congress, and that the Navy’s top admiral doesn’t even want.
It’s the same Senator Shelby who has personally raked in over $3.5 million in campaign donations from weapons contractors and their lobbyists over the years, including from — you guessed it — General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls, the companies who make the unnecessary destroyers these extra billions would fund.
Shelby would argue that these payouts mean jobs for his home state, but that’s a lie, and one the weapons industry has sold us for too long. The reality is spending on weapons and war creates FEWER jobs than if the same amount of money was invested in other sectors.
https://winwithoutwar.org/?akid=8037.280648.y_mQOe&rd=1&sorce=akhead&t=1
"The non-partisan GAO recently found that, “an increasing number of F-35s have not been able to fly because they don't have a working engine.
Win Without War doesn’t have an aerospace engineer on staff, but we’re pretty sure a working engine is an integral part of a plane. So it’s mind boggling that the Pentagon recently announced a new deal to spend $30 BILLION more on another 375 F-35s.
Why is our government so committed to a flawed plane? Well, it might be a coincidence, but over the last 20 years the weapons industry has spent $285 million in political donations and $2.5 BILLION on lobbying to gain influence. What’s more, last summer an investigation found that at least 47 members of Congress or their spouses hold stock in weapons corporations.
Let’s break that down: Taxpayer money is redistributed to weapons corporations by the same people cashing checks from the weapons lobby. It’s corruption, plain and simple — and when you’re talking about weapons and war, the consequences are life or death.
This year, key committees across the House and Senate voted to add F-35s above and beyond the Pentagon’s request during the debate on the National Defense Authorization Act. But it’s not just fighter jets – this sort of corruption spans from sky to sea.
Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, just unveiled a new push to spend BILLIONS more on boats that the president didn't request, that weren’t authorized by Congress, and that the Navy’s top admiral doesn’t even want.
It’s the same Senator Shelby who has personally raked in over $3.5 million in campaign donations from weapons contractors and their lobbyists over the years, including from — you guessed it — General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls, the companies who make the unnecessary destroyers these extra billions would fund.
Shelby would argue that these payouts mean jobs for his home state, but that’s a lie, and one the weapons industry has sold us for too long. The reality is spending on weapons and war creates FEWER jobs than if the same amount of money was invested in other sectors.
