If I could mandate one federal budget change that would save billions of dollars, slash the unemployment rate and goose the economy, it would be this: cancel all federal contracts, turn the necessary staff into public employees and tell the overpaid corporate executives to Galt themselves right to Somalia.
The Washington Post reports that defense contractors aren’t very concerned about sequestration:
“In call after call with investors,
officials at some of the area’s largest contracting firms refused to
guess how much it would cost them if Congress allows the “sequester” to
kick in on March 1. Even as their lobbyists keep warning how much the
cuts would hurt the industry, the executives are projecting confidence
that the sequester will not happen. Northrop Grumman
chief executive Wes Bush said Wednesday that his company’s outlook for
the year projects “the sequestration is not triggered” and that Congress
barely touches federal contract spending levels for 2013. General Dynamics
…too, assumes no sequestration. Their confidence defies the emerging
consensus on Capitol Hill that Congress will not find an agreement in
time to cancel or delay the cuts… If the sequester cuts take effect in full, economists estimate they will destroy about 1 million jobs nationwide,
including hundreds of thousands in the Washington area. The executives
do not appear to believe that will come to pass. It may be because
Congress keeps averting fiscal crises at the very last minute, and
because the Obama administration asked contractors last year not to
issue layoff notices in preparation for cuts that were originally
scheduled to begin this month. It may also be because contracting firms
appear confident in their ability to lobby for sequester relief.”
Meanwhile, federal labor unions are asking Congress (*cough* Republicans *cough*) to quit playing favorites with their defense contractor buddies if they really want to balance the budget:
“The NTEU has called on Congress to focus
its attention on contractors for cost savings. During the last session
of Congress, the union lobbied for a stalled measure that would limit
reimbursements for contractor executive pay. Gilman said the legislation
could save the government up to $50 billion over 10 years. “Some
folks are just adamant that their number one goal is to prevent these
guys that are making $45,000 a year from getting a half-percent raise as
opposed to limiting folks that are being reimbursed $760,000 a year,”
Gilman said. “We can’t get some of the people who are screaming loudest
about cutting the budget to look at the total dollars as opposed to
just looking at the federal workforce.””
$45,000 to $760,000 is quite a discrepancy between the average
federal salary and the average pay for a defense contractor executive.
The Bush Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over now, right? Why is the
war machine not winding down?
The enormous salaries paid by the taxpayer to defense contractor
executives are just another form of corporate welfare. How is this not
“big government?” It’s ridiculous that federal workers could be doing
the same work for less money, but the conservative talking point is that
by the government hiring contractors at enormous wages we’re “drowning
government in a bathtub.” Bullshit. Defense contractors are banking
massive amounts of tax payer money and WE’RE the ones who are drowning.
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