For nearly three decades, the Department of Defense has used taxpayer money to send elite military officers to work for some of the Pentagon’s top private contractors. The public-private arrangement has allowed corporate lobbying disguised as policy recommendations to reach the highest branches of the Defense Department, according to an exclusive report from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft shared with The Lever.
From 1995 to 2021, more than 315 military officers with elite ranks as high as colonel and rear admiral have been placed at top weapons manufacturers such as Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin, as well as other companies with billion-dollar government contracts. The arrangement has also coincided with a dramatic rise in Defense Department spending on private contractors valued in the trillions of dollars.
Your story about military interns has much merit. It is curious that you open with a statement about using "taxpayer money" to fund the effort. I guess that means that the intern remain, as they should, on the government payroll. Their ultimate allegiance should be with the DOD. It is up to their superiors to make sure the interns provide useful insight.
My quarrel with you bright young folks is your highlighting of "taxpayer money" to fund this operation. You smart guys should know that taxpayers don't fund the government. We have not been on a gold standard since 1933. Our fiat currency is issued by the government in quantities necessary to stimulate our productive capacity whether it be for military or civilian use. Your economic ignorance taints your otherwise brilliant investigations.
This is true. I think people say it because it's a simpler way of telling the reader he/she is screwed by the system. It's not technically true, though, is it? With the stroke of a pen, they can fund wars and stuff. I am not good at this topic but I remember hearing Stephanie Kelton going on about it and I sort of understood. The screaming about the high deficit is another issue she sort of debunked but that too is not my area of expertise.
FINDING THE MONEY (Stephanie Kelton) : Watch the Trailer: https://youtu.be/R47h_ux-nE8
this is irrelevant. when the debt is called in by the fed, we are the ones on the hook. and since our legislators dont represent us, we won't be taxing the wealthiest amongst us to foot the bill. it'll be more extreme austerity politics than we are already seeing in this country/across the western world.