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Tuesday, December 04, 2012

The Pentagon's Revolving Door with Defense Contractors. Some Shocking Statistics

High ranking generals and admirals earn their stars.  They earn their stripes.  Then, they earn their cash.  New research by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found 70% of the 108 three-and-four star generals and admirals who retired between 2009 and 2011 took jobs with defense contractor or consultants.  In at least a few cases, the retirees have continued to advise the Department of Defense while on the payroll of defense contractors, suggesting the Pentagon may not always be receiving unbiased counsel.
A Boston Globe investigation revealed the number of retired three-and-four star generals and admirals moving into lucrative defense industry jobs rose from less than 50% between 1994 and 1998 to a stratospheric 80% between 2004 and 2008. 
- From Strategic Maneuvers: The Revolving Door from the Pentagon to the Private Sector, a report by CREW
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has just released a fantastic new report on the revolving door between the Pentagon and the private sector, which raises serious concerns not only about ethics and corruption within the defense sector, but also raises issues of national security if retired generals are merely acting as mercenaries once they retire.  Meanwhile, these are the folks we are supposed to allow to read all of our emails and communications without warrants??
When I first figured out the gigantic ponzi scheme, theft and fraud within the financial system, centered around the Federal Reserve system and the TBTF banks, as well as the revolving door between the SEC, Treasury Department, etc and Wall Street firms, I never imagined the same thing goes on in virtually every sector of our corrupt crony capitalist economy…including the military.

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