When Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex” he must have had in mind something like the actions of Curt Weldon (PA-07). How does the military-industrial complex acquire unwarranted influence? Let us count the ways. Leslie Wayne details the sordid relationship between Curt Weldon and an Italian arms manufacturer named Finmeccanica. Finmeccanica subsidiaries hired Weldon’s daughter, hired his close friend (with no lobbying experience) to be a lobbyist, and then located their headquarters in his district. In return, they received a contract to make the next generation Marine One presidential helicopter and Weldon asked the Navy to reconsider a decision to use a rival company’s guns on their Littoral Combat Ships.
Pretty straight forward stuff, actually. Weldon enriches his friends and brings jobs to his district. He probably doesn’t think he did anything wrong. But this is corruption. This is a rotten way to determine what kind of weapons systems we will buy for our armed services. It’s just a snapshot of a much bigger problem. Eisenhower warned us about this and we didn’t listen. Prior to 9/11, the United States accounted for 36% of global arms expenditures. Now the number is significantly higher. Sending Curt Weldon packing is not going to fix the problem. But it will send a message. Volunteer for Joe Sestak.
As much on defense as the rest of the world combined, and with the cost of the Iraq war now at $2billion per week and climbing (and I frankly think that $2billion figure is low), our proportional defense spending will continue to grow.
And for what?
when curt weldon goes a whole bunch of military folks will breathe a sigh of relief….the osprey program will finally be dead…i have an army pilot friend who calls the osprey the flying coffin….no one wants to fly it…but he kept that program to develop it alive because it brought so much money to his district and boeing….a lot of people died in that thing and their blood is on his hands.