The Hill reports on something that I thought probably would not happen.
The senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thad Cochran, will soon announce whether he will retire from the upper chamber, a decision that could further shake up a powerful panel and even give Democrats hope of picking up a seat in the GOP stronghold of Mississippi.
Cochran says he will make an announcement after Mississippi’s statewide elections, which are on Nov. 6.
Before I get to the meat of this article I want to point out something about the Senate Appropriations Committee. Here’s a list of the Republicans on the committee, in order of seniority.
Sen. Thad Cochran (REP-MS)- possibly retiring.
Sen. Ted Stevens (REP-AK)- scandal plagued, possibly retiring, possibly arrested.
Sen. Arlen Specter (REP-PA)- stands to take over as Ranking Member.
Sen. Pete Domenici (REP-NM)- scandal plagued, retiring.
Sen. Christopher Bond (REP-MO)- 2nd rank in leadership.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (REP-KY)- Minority Leader, will face tough reelection challenge.
Sen. Richard Shelby (REP-AL)- former Democrat.
Sen. Judd Gregg (REP-NH)- up for re-election in 2010.
Sen. Robert Bennett (REP-UT)- 74 years old.
Sen. Larry Craig (REP-ID)- scandal plagued, retiring.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (REP-TX)- probably will step down in 2010 to run for governor.
Sen. Sam Brownback (REP-KS)- will not run for reelection in 2010.
Sen. Wayne Allard (REP-CO)- retiring.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (REP-TN)- up for re-election in 2008.
Your first reaction might be to relish the decimation of GOP power on this most powerful of committees. But, The Hill has a more interesting reaction.
Losing some, if not all of those Republicans, will intensify an intra-conference race next Congress for seats on the panel that controls the purse strings of the federal government. At the very least, it will significantly affect the defense industry, which has spent years fundraising and developing close ties with most of those Republicans, including Cochran…
…The possible retirement of Cochran could also have major repercussions for the defense industry, which has invested time building strong relationship with him and other veteran defense appropriators, including Domenici, McConnell, Stevens and Hutchison.
Cochran has been a stalwart supporter of the Navy’s shipbuilding programs, while Stevens has been one of the biggest proponents of the Air Force and its multibillion-dollar programs, such as Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor and the Joint Strike Fighter. Hutchison has shown her support for the Air Force as well as military construction, while Domenici has been a strong supporter of nuclear energy and military laboratories.
“Democrat or Republican, nothing replaces seniority in these committees,” said Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
You rarely see things put quite so nakedly. The Defense Industry is losing influence? Their senators are being decimated? Let’s see how it works.
Over the past 18 years, Cochran received a total of $279,986 from the defense industry, with Northrop Grumman — which builds ships in Mississippi — being one of his top contributors. Northrop Grumman donated more than $33,000 over the years to the senator’s coffers, while Lockheed Martin and Raytheon donated more than $20,000.
In the fiscal 2008 defense funding bill, Cochran secured $76.5 million in individual earmarks and nearly another $75 million with Mississippi’s junior GOP Sen. Trent Lott.
So, the Navy owns Cochran. Who does the Air Force own?
Stevens has received more than $716,375 from the defense industry since 1989, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Boeing alone contributed at least $104,600 to the senator’s campaign over the years.
How about the nuclear weapons industry?
…Domenici has been a strong supporter of nuclear energy and military laboratories.
…The defense sector contributed over $400,000 to Domenici since 1989, mostly from defense political action committees. Defense giants Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have been some of his top contributors, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
And Hutchison?
Hutchison has shown her support for the Air Force as well as military construction…
While Hutchison received a fair amount of her campaign money from the finance and insurance industry, she also has enjoyed strong support from the defense industry, which poured about $290,000 into her coffers.
Why our defense industry is free to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into these campaigns is a question at the heart of our problems as a nation. We want a strong defense. But, do we realize how corrupting this system is? Look at the list of Republicans on this committee. Look at how corrupt they are. Is this the inevitable price we pay for how our government is set up?
I worry about the Democrats on this committee. So far, there isn’t any whiff of corruption from the members, but we can be sure that Raytheon and Boeing will be knocking ever more urgently on the doors of the Democrats. That’s what they do, and that is how the whole tragi-comic farce perpetuates itself down through the ages.
The Military-Industrial complex is only mildly concerned. Who do you think is pushing Difi or Webb as VP candidate?
Surprising, the defense industry is not that prominent among her top contributors. That may change now.
I was under the impression that her husband is a defense contractor.
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Feinstein is such a jaded old hoo-er. And just like her counterparts across the aisle are killing the GrOPers election chances, her ilk continues to harm the Dems. It still amazes me that even in a state like California the Dems won’t come up with anyone to run against her and wipe the floor with her ass.
But people are stupid. They will continue to vote against their own best interests.
The knuckleheads around me know that all of the GrOPer candidates suck and will do nothing good for the country. Yet they continue to vote for them because of a stupid single issue or set of issues that in reality have no practical bearing on their lives. Namely, “teh gays” or the anti-abortion thing (because the Catholic church or their fundi church tells them so). Idjits. My mother-in-law is one of them. She must’ve been dropped on her head as a baby and it’s a miracle that she didn’t manage to fuck-up my husband.
Christ on a crutch, this decimation of the defense hogs couldn’t come at a better time. The moment has arrived to terminate – with extreme prejudice I might add – two USAF programs, the F22 and the F35 JSF. Both are dinosaurs. Both are way over budget. Both have experienced inept uniformed officer management and cronyism of incredible proportions in order to bail out the prime contractors. Neither program has a mission at this point and are being maintained to provide defense welfare, mostly for Georgia and Texas. Terminating these programs will save billions of dollars of taxpayer money that needs to be spent on other programs with real higher mission priority rather than Pentagon project management priority.
Exactly. I work with a lot of retired AF guys and, conservative as they are, they gripe about this kind of stuff. A lot.
I don’t have as much of a problem with defense spending as I do with the egregious waste of what we’re doing with the defense money. But, like what seems to be everything else in government, the money and contracts aren’t going to what we need or what would actually protect us. They’re going to whoever is connected.
The MIC gouging will never stop, and corporate gouging in general will never stop, until we have publicly financed elections. Not gonna hold my breath for that.
Ya, have no fear about the military-industrial complex, the Dems caving into them five minutes after Nov 7.