Defense Fights Sequestration Eisenhower Couldn’t Predict
By Jonathan D. Salant and Terry Atlas - Oct 30, 2013
Defense industry lobbyists are bearing down on members of Congress in a bid to avert $52 billion in automatic spending cuts, part of a series of reductions that threaten to reshape military programs and contractors’ profits for years.
U.S. lawmakers have been barraged with phone calls, letters and visits in the biggest lobbying campaign by military contractors in recent history, as a special congressional committee begins meeting today in an effort to produce a budget accord replacing cuts approved in 2011, known as sequestration.
For the defense industry, this is a potentially transformational moment in its relationship with Congress, where defense spending long was accorded special status as a matter of national security and hometown jobs -- reinforced by campaign contributions. John McCain of Arizona, a leading Senate voice on defense, said military spending is no longer sacrosanct, even among fellow Republicans.
“It’s a new generation of conservatives that may not have the same concern for national security as previously,” McCain said yesterday. “A lot of them have never served, many of them are new in the Congress and many of them campaigned committed to cutting spending.”
The Aerospace Industries Association, a trade group that counts top contractors Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) and Raytheon Co. (RTN) as members, said it is waging its largest campaign in years against sequestration.
more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-10-30/defense-fights-sequestration-eisenhower-couldn-t-predict.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
