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Bernie Sanders
Related: About this forumBernie Is Right: The Military-Industrial Complex Is Alive and Well
http://inthesetimes.com/article/18665/paris-attacks-show-the-military-industrial-complex-is-alive-and-wellDuring the last Democratic debate, the presidential candidates pledged to make defeating ISIS a priority. But more significant was the question raised by Bernie Sanders about front-runner Hillary Clintons corporate donors from Wall Street, from the military-industrial complex and what theyre gonna get for their money.
As long as we continue to allow corporate funding of candidates for high office, we will continue to have corporate-driven policies. Big Oil supports a strong U.S. military presence in the Middle East and North Africa to prop up repressive regimes that serve its interest and to stamp out democratic or nationalist governments that might seek to expel foreign investors and U.S. military bases. This fuels instability, anti-Western anger and terrorism. That terrorism,
in turn, boosts profits for the military-industrial complex. The Paris attacks occurred on a Friday. When the markets opened on Monday, defense industry stocksBoeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Booz Allen Hamiltonsoared in anticipation of the coming weapons sales and security contracts. Any foreign policy with the potential to stabilize the region is bad for business and wont get corporate backing, and thus wont get a fair hearing in the Pentagon, the halls of Congress or the corporate press.
The results of policies that cater to Big Oil and the military-industrial complex come as no surprise. Since 9/11, five countries in the regionAfghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemenhave disintegrated as nation states. Three were the focus of direct American interventions. The fourth (Yemen) was destabilized by an American drone war. The fifth (Syria) suffered from the chaos and mayhem in neighboring Iraq and from a flood of U.S. arms to so-called moderate rebels.
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Bernie Is Right: The Military-Industrial Complex Is Alive and Well (Original Post)
eridani
Dec 2015
OP
global1
(25,254 posts)1. Like I Said In A Previous Post - All The Repug Candidates Last Night Were Vying For....
a chance to have their finger on the button.
The MIC loves them.
jomin41
(559 posts)2. More than alive and well,
the MIC is DOMINANT. It gets everything it wants. The citizens of no other country bear such a burden. Not even close.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)3. According to opensecrets Hillary is the #1 Presidential candidate in defense industry donations ...
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php?ind=D&cycle=2016&recipdetail=P&mem=N&sortorder=U
Presidential Candidates
Rank Candidate Amount
1 Clinton, Hillary (D) $94,951
2 Cruz, Ted (R) $82,582
3 Bush, Jeb (R) $45,450
4 Graham, Lindsey (R) $36,275
5 Paul, Rand (R) $30,880
6 Sanders, Bernie (D) $28,500
7 Carson, Ben (R) $24,206
8 Fiorina, Carly (R) $19,665
9 O'Malley, Martin (D) $16,500
10 Rubio, Marco (R) $14,761
11 Santorum, Rick (R) $8,200
12 Christie, Chris (R) $5,900
Rank Candidate Amount
1 Clinton, Hillary (D) $94,951
2 Cruz, Ted (R) $82,582
3 Bush, Jeb (R) $45,450
4 Graham, Lindsey (R) $36,275
5 Paul, Rand (R) $30,880
6 Sanders, Bernie (D) $28,500
7 Carson, Ben (R) $24,206
8 Fiorina, Carly (R) $19,665
9 O'Malley, Martin (D) $16,500
10 Rubio, Marco (R) $14,761
11 Santorum, Rick (R) $8,200
12 Christie, Chris (R) $5,900