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GE, that OWNS NBC, is one of the top contractors. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=16CEO: Jeffrey R. Immelt Military contracts 2005: $2.2 billion Defense-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $220,950*
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/AIRC04057.xml&headline=DOD%20Continues%20To%20Invest%20In%20Aircraft The top five companies involved in such work, according to the analyzed contracts and contract modifications were -- in descending order according to total contract amounts -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies, General Electric and Northrop Grumman.
The year's figure represents a small slice of the aircraft investment pie the Pentagon has been baking through the past few decades -- and of what it plans for the future.
GAO analyzed tactical fighter costs from 1976 through the present and projected out to 2011, normalizing the data to express costs in fiscal year 2007 dollars.
"The total investment for research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) and procurement during this time period approaches $1 trillion in constant dollars," the agency said in its report, "Tactical Aircraft: DOD Needs a Joint and Integrated Investment Strategy"
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=23
Iraq contracts GE's reconstruction activities in Iraq were not disclosed in documents the Defense Department provided to the Center for Public Integrity in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Media sources, however, indicate that GE has or had post-war business dealings in Iraq. For instance, it was reported in April 2003 that GE Energy Rentals Inc., a division of GE Power Systems, was supplying temporary electrical generators to the U.S. military in Iraq. GE Energy Rentals, based in Atlanta, rents power generators, heating and cooling equipment and light towers. It was launched as a separate division in June 1999. The company refused to divulge the value of the contract.
Afghanistan contracts The documents the Center received from the Defense Department revealed that GE was awarded a contract worth $5,927,870 from the U.S. Army Engineer District, Philadelphia, for "gas services." News releases available on the Defense Department's Web site, however, go into greater detail. For example, the contract is a firm-fixed-price contract awarded in February 2003 to GE Energy Rentals Inc. to provide prime power services at Bagram and Kandahar airbases. The contract is to be completed by Nov. 30, 2004. Seven bids were solicited for the contract in December 2002, and two bids were received.
Government ties Before joining GE in 1993, Kenneth V. Meyer, a vice president of GE Aircraft Engines, was a major general in the U.S. Air Force and served as director of Air Force contracting at the Pentagon and chief of staff for Air Force Systems Command.
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Benjamin W. Heineman Jr. served at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare from 1977 to 1980, completing his tenure there as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation.
Sam Nunn, a GE director since 1997, was a Democratic U.S. senator from Georgia from 1973 until his retirement in 1997. He served as the chairman and ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Francis S. Blake, a former senior vice president at GE, served as deputy secretary of energy from May 2001 until he resigned in April 2002. He played a key role in the formation of President Bush's controversial national energy plan, but resigned after less than a year on the job. He attracted criticism for holding a series of policy meetings that were dominated by energy industry representatives. Prior to joining GE in 1991, Blake had been general counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency during the final three years of the Reagan administration and, prior to that, deputy counsel to former Vice President George Bush and deputy counsel to the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief.
Former CEO Jack Welch was a George W. Bush supporter and a major Republican contributor. Two weeks before his inauguration, Bush invited Welch and other CEO's (including Enron's Ken Lay) to Texas for a summit. Bush reportedly considered Welch for a Cabinet position and, in the summer of 2001, sent members of his administration to lobby the European Union in support of GE's proposed merger with Honeywell, which the EU ultimately rejected.
Throughout 2001, California Congressman Henry Waxman accused Welch of intervening in NBC's 2000 election night coverage and pressuring the network to prematurely declare Bush the winner. Welch admitted he attended an election night party at NBC's headquarters and that he cheered for Bush but denied interfering with coverage decisions..... Staples has a HUGE GSA contract worth billions--they got slapped with a lousy four million dollar fine for not "buying American" but they are still in business. If you look up "Staples National Advantage" and "GSA" you'll get page after page of government entities that point people to that business as one that will process their government orders with no fuss. For example: Staples National Advantage 45 East Wesley Street South Hackensack, NJ 07606 - USA 888-212-7219 Supplier Of Office Supplies Under GSA Contract #GS-14F-0036K. Overnight Delivery On Over 6,000 Computer And Supply Items. Staples National Advantage Offers A Full Line Of All NIB/NISH Products Under JWOD. http://www.fedpage.com/VendorList.asp?PageMode=SEARCH The Windfalls of War: http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=152Sprint Nextel will be bidding on a twenty billion (yes, with a B) dollar Pentagon contract very soon--gee, wonder if their loyalty in dumping Imus will pay off? http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aECGO5bfbNNI&refer=homeOnce upon a time, Imus was BELOVED by BushCo. Of course, that was back when Imus still supported this idiotic war. Hell, lookie here--Cheney (Imus recently called him a WAR CRIMINAL) just loved the guy, called him the I-Man and everything (read the interview, note the Armstrong Williams reference--the same asshat who is all over the air dissing Imus the last two days) : http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/13/cheney-imus-humor/FLASHBACK: Cheney ‘Has The Same Sense Of Humor’ As Imus In the debate over Don Imus’ offensive comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, many bloggers and pundits have focused on the fact that despite Imus’ history of inflammatory remarks, politicians and media celebrities have continued to appear on his show over the years.
One big time politician, who has said that he likes to “listen to Don Imus in the morning,” has thus far escaped scrutiny for his relationship to fallen shock jock: Vice President Dick Cheney.
In January 2005, on the day of Bush’s second inaugaration, Cheney and his wife, Lynne, granted Imus a lengthy, exclusive interview, in which Mrs. Cheney affectionately referred to Imus as “the I-man.”
....Fascinating, isn't it? The people who think this firing was about concepts like simple decency and fairness just have no clue what really goes on and how vicious it REALLY gets behind closed corporate doors. EVERYTHING is a goddamned business decision. And this wasn't about the dimes and dollars they got from Imus listeners in a paltry little subset of retail sales...this was about Imus impacting the BILLIONS they got from the US Treasury in the furtherance of BushCo's Ugly Little War. And anyone who thinks otherwise is just not stepping back and seeing the big, huge, ugly canvas, or sniffing the air around themselves and smelling a rather fetid rodent.
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