"Security Advisers Tied to $40 Bln in Contracts"

"National security advisers to the Republican presidential candidates have ties to defense, homeland security and energy companies that have received at least $40 billion in federal contracts since 2008.

...Romney and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who are leading in the polls, have advisers who sit on the board of directors of BAE Systems Inc., which has received at least $37 billion in U.S. government contracts since 2008...

If democracy is government by the people, plutocracy by the wealthy

oligarchy by a few, aristocracy by nobility, theocracy by clergy

corptocracy by business and autocracy by one

who has what where, and who’s on who’s side and why?

William Schneider, an adviser to Gingrich, and Michael Chertoff, who counsels Romney, serve on the board of the U.S. subsidiary of BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s largest defense contractor. The American company makes the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle and provides information technology systems to American intelligence agencies and repair services to the U.S. Navy.

Schneider, a former State Department undersecretary for security assistance, science and technology under President Ronald Reagan, is head of International Planning Services Inc., a consulting firm based in Arlington, Virginia.

What should the electorate expect

from leadership dependent on the status quo?

He also serves on the board of MBDA Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Europe’s largest missile maker. MBDA, which has at least $12 million in U.S. contracts, according to the Bloomberg data, is owned by BAE Systems Plc, Paris and Munich-based European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Co. (EAD) (EADS) and Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA. (FINMY)

Schneider also serves on the board of Falls Church, Virginia-based Defense Group Inc., whose focus includes research and development in intelligence and cybersecurity. Defense Group has received about $208 million in contracts since 2008 from agencies that include the Defense and Homeland Security departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation...

...In 2010, the company had $82.2 million in federal contracts, according to the data.

If a few contribute the majority

of large campaign donations that many can’t afford

who works for whom,

and what do the few usually expect in return

that most probably won’t receive?

Who is "advising" the President of the United States of America 

Gingrich has called for securing U.S. borders to “prevent terrorist organizations from sneaking agents and weapons” into the country. During a national security debate on Nov. 22, he said the U.S. must strengthen the tools to detect and deter threats because “all of us will be in danger for the rest of our lives.”

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:13

...The Romney advisers with ties to military contractors include Chertoff, a former Homeland Security secretary; former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden; former CIA and State Department Counterterrorism Director Cofer Black; former Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim; and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Mary Beth Long.

In addition to BAE Systems, those former government officials are linked to companies that include Alion Science & Technology Corp. and Blackbird Technologies Inc.

The first lesson of economics is scarcity:

There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it.

The first lesson of politics

is to disregard the first lesson of economics.

Thomas Sowell

Romney has called for boosting shipbuilding and missile defense and a strategy to defend against cyber attacks, terrorism and espionage.

...He has said that, as president, he would announce an initiative to increase the shipbuilding rate to 15 a year, up from the current nine ships annually. The Navy paid $3.2 billion in contracts last year to companies now associated with Romney advisers.

...At least six companies that are tied to advisers to Romney’s campaign provide cybersecurity services to the federal government, the data shows. They include BAE, InfoZen Inc., and security-clearance company KeyPoint Government Solutions Inc., all of which count Chertoff as a board member; Motorola Solutions Inc. and Alion, whose boards include Hayden; and Blackbird, where Black is a vice president.

Romney advisers also have business ties to each other. Hayden is a principal at Chertoff’s consulting company, the Chertoff Group, which in turn is a client of Metis Solutions, owned by Mary Beth Long, another Romney adviser. Another client of Metis, according to the company’s website, is Alion, on whose board Hayden sits.

In politics, nothing happens by accident.

If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

...Gingrich has called for the implementation of an energy plan “to reduce the world’s dependence on oil from dangerous and unstable countries, especially in the Middle East,” according to his campaign website.

R. James Woolsey, the former CIA director who serves as an adviser to Gingrich, is a venture partner at Lux Capital, an investment firm focused on emerging technologies, including energy. Woolsey also leads the strategic advisory group of Paladin Capital Group, a private equity fund in Washington with a portfolio that includes alternative energy and cyber security. Woolsey serves as the chairman of his own firm Woolsey Partners LLC."

Roxana Tiron