June 27, 2008

The Gangs of Pentagon Procurement

Politicians practically worship the Pentagon because it carefully, cleverly directs its gargantuan spending across almost every congressional district. And because contractors kick back a hefty tranche to politicians' bank accounts. Not so much of this supports the public good or authentic "defense." Call it the dark side of Keynesianism. Our ruinous military money conveyor can't go on indefinitely but most politicians won't discuss it or give reform the priority it deserves. And the mainstream media won't report the facts. Ordinary people are left to struggle on their own to make sense out of what's happening. So when a former top civilian official at the Pentagon declares that the weapons procurement system is completely broken, that overall spending is out of control, that we should "scrap the whole process," and who agrees an intellectually respectable argument can be made for cutting military spending by half — well, we should pay attention! Formerly the director of weapons testing, Tom Christie was extraordinarily kind to talk with me and explain things. I thank him for his candor. Total runtime an hour and ten minutes. Pass the word.