Maybe It Was The Cash?
Poland has chosen the US firm Lockeed-Martin to update it's air force in a contract worth $3.5 billion. The Poles passed over a Swedish-British group that was a lower cost alternative to Lockeed Martin's F-16s, as well as other bids from competing companies. What convinced the Poles to go with the F-16s? How about the intense lobbying and the $3.8 billion in low interest load poured into Poland by the US government? In essence, US taxpayers are buying Poland an air force. Lockeed-Martin's stock goes up, a few principals are enriched, and the transfer of wealth from the many to the few goes on unabated. When someone points out how much money in the federal budget is spent on the military, do you think that this $3.8 billion will be included or, perhaps, added to the "foreign aid" column?
Story here.
Poland has chosen the US firm Lockeed-Martin to update it's air force in a contract worth $3.5 billion. The Poles passed over a Swedish-British group that was a lower cost alternative to Lockeed Martin's F-16s, as well as other bids from competing companies. What convinced the Poles to go with the F-16s? How about the intense lobbying and the $3.8 billion in low interest load poured into Poland by the US government? In essence, US taxpayers are buying Poland an air force. Lockeed-Martin's stock goes up, a few principals are enriched, and the transfer of wealth from the many to the few goes on unabated. When someone points out how much money in the federal budget is spent on the military, do you think that this $3.8 billion will be included or, perhaps, added to the "foreign aid" column?
Story here.
posted by Captain Caseous at 4:21 p.m.
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