Don’t
let contractors use OUR money against our own interests
By Robert Reich
President Obama is said to be considering an executive order requiring federal contractors to
disclose their political spending. He should sign it immediately.
But he should go further and ban all political spending by
federal contractors that receive more than half their revenues from government.
Ever since the Supreme Court’s shameful Citizens United decision, big
corporations have been funneling large amounts of cash into American politics,
often secretly.
Bad enough. But when big government contractors do the
funneling, American taxpayers foot the bill twice over: We pay their lobbying
and campaign expenses. And when those efforts nab another contract, we pay for
stuff we often don’t need.
A study by St. Louis University political scientist
Christopher Witko reveals a direct relationship between what a corporation
spends on campaign contributions and the amount it receives back in government
contracts.
A case in point is America’s largest contractor – Lockheed
Martin. More than 80 percent of Lockheed’s revenues come from the
U.S. government, mostly from the Defense Department.
Yet it’s hard to say Lockheed has given American taxpayers a
good deal for our money.
For example, Lockheed is the main contractor for the F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter – the single most expensive weapons program in history, and also
one of the worst. It’s been plagued by so many engine failures and
software glitches that Lockheed and its subcontractors practically had to start
over this year.
Why do we keep throwing good money after bad?
Follow the money behind the money.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Lockheed’s Political Action
Committee spent over $4 million on the 2014 election cycle, and has
already donated over $1 million to candidates for 2016.
The top congressional recipient of Lockheed’s largesse is Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Armed Services
committee. Second-highest is Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-New Jersey), Chair of the
Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Third is Kay Granger, the Subcommittee’s Vice-Chair.
Lockheed also maintains a squadron of Washington lawyers and
lobbyists dedicated to keeping and getting even more federal contracts. The firm
spent over $14 million lobbying Congress last year.
Remarkably, 73 out of Lockheed’s 109 lobbyists are
former Pentagon officials, congressional staffers, White House aides, and
former members of Congress.
You and I and other taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay Lockheed’s
lobbying expenses, but these costs are built into the overhead Lockheed charges
the government in its federal contracts.
And we shouldn’t foot the bill for Lockheed’s campaign
contributions, but these are also covered in the overhead the firm charges
– including the salaries of executives expected to donate to Lockheed’s
Political Action Committee.
The ten largest federal contractors are all defense contractors,
and we’re indirectly paying all of them to lobby Congress and buy off
politicians.
To state it another way, we’re paying them to hire former
government officials to lobby current government officials, and we’re also
paying them to bribe current politicians – all in order to keep or get fat
government contracts that often turn out to be lousy deals for us.
Fifty six years ago, President Dwight Eisenhower warned of the
dangers of an unbridled “military-industrial complex,” as he called it. Now
it’s a military-industrial-congressional complex. After Citizens United,
it’s less bridled than ever.
That’s why President Obama shouldn’t stop with an executive
order requiring government contractors to disclose their political
contributions.
He should ban all political activities by
corporations getting more than half their revenues from the federal government.
That includes Lockheed and every other big defense contractor.
ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at
the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center
for Developing Economies, was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration.
Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of
the twentieth century. He has written thirteen books, including the best
sellers “Aftershock" and “The Work of Nations." His latest,
"Beyond Outrage," is now out in paperback. He is also a founding
editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause. His new
film, "Inequality for All," is now available on Netflix, iTunes, DVD,
and On Demand.