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Last week, the cover of The Trends Journal highlighted the midterm elections and read, “AMERIKA VOTE FOR THE LOSER YOU HATE THE LEAST…THE WAR MACHINE ALWAYS WINS.”
And Bill La Plante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, proved our point when he said he expected Congress—no matter what party was in control—would approve new weapons purchasing power at levels not seen since the Cold War.
He addressed George Mason University last week and said Congress is supportive of the idea.
“They are going to give us multiyear authority, and they’re going to give us funding to really put into the industrial base,” he said. “And I’m talking billions of dollars into the industrial base—to fund these production lines. That, I predict, is going to happen, and it’s happening now. And then people will have to say: ‘I guess they were serious about it.’ But we have not done that since the Cold War.”
AntiWar.org reported that LaPlante has been pushing for the approval that would allow the Pentagon to lock in certain purchases from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, BAE Systems, and Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace for the next two years.
It is worth noting that Lloyd Austin, the defense secretary, was a former board member for Raytheon before taking the role in President Biden’s Cabinet.
The vote is expected this week. Democrats maintained control of the Senate, and, as of Monday, the House of Representatives is a toss-up. Defense News noted that the approval would be a significant victory for defense industry groups that have been urging Congress to authorize the economic price adjustments to meet inflationary pressures and supply chain issues.
TRENDPOST: Congress has to pass the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that is required by 31 December. We reported in July that the House voted in favor of an $850.3 billion national security budget that members say will help the U.S. respond to continued threats and surging inflation. The House passed the bill in a 329-101 vote. The “no” votes included 62 Republicans and 39 Democrats.
The wartime purchasing power authority would be tacked on to the NDAA.
LaPlante said he believes that smaller arms vendors and other suppliers are feeling the pinch from inflation. He said it is his hope to make sure “we’re providing within the regs, within the law, the most flexibility to contractors.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., did not seem to buy the claim, according to Defense News. She said in a letter to LaPlante that these “well-intentioned” policies that would support “vulnerable suppliers” will instead go to underwriting defense contractors’ executives’ “lavish compensation packages,” and paying for stock buybacks—all on the taxpayers’ dime.
“I particularly urge DoD to be circumspect about the industry’s claims about the impact of inflation given their second quarter profits, which show operating incomes that increased over the last quarter and average 11.7 percent, suggesting there was little or no adverse impact due to inflation,” she wrote.
The Trends Journal has long noted that the one issue that can bring together the most hardened liberal Democrats, and the most conservative Republicans is the vote for war. What other issue would you find Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Mitch McConnell agree on? (See “U.S. MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX HEAD LLOYD AUSTIN PROMISES UKRAINE WEAPONS OF DEATH TO BEAT RUSSIA,” “WAR-MONGERS IN CONGRESS WANT PENTAGON TO INCREASE WEAPONS TO UKRAINE” and “BIDEN SENDS ANOTHER $600 MILLION IN DEADLY WEAPONS TO UKRAINE; LONG-RANGE GUIDED MISSILES NEXT?”)
All Eyes on Big, Bad Beijing
The Biden administration has been fixated on China since he took office. (See “U.S. SENATE PANEL RAMPS UP CONFLICT WITH CHINA: BIDEN READY TO GO TO WAR,” “BIDEN DOUBLES DOWN ON HIS PLEDGE THAT U.S. WILL DEFEND TAIWAN IF CHINA INVADES” and “U.S. CHICKEN HAWKS SQUEALING FOR MORE JETS TO FIGHT CHINA.”)
A congressional aide told Defense News that the spending authority would put the U.S. in a better position to counter China. The aide said the U.S. is no longer able to “pussyfoot” around with “minimum-sustaining-rate buys of these munitions.”
“It’s hard to think of something as high on everybody’s list as buying a ton of munitions for the next few years, for our operational plans against China and continuing to supply Ukraine,” the aide said.
The Pentagon announced in its new National Defense Strategy that China remains the U.S.’s most “serious challenge” to security and noted that Beijing is increasing its “aggressive endeavor to refashion the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to suit its interests and authoritarian preferences.”
Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the rivalry between the U.S. and China could have a negative impact on the rest of the world, which “is poorer and less secure as a result.”
“I lived through the first Cold War on the other side of the Iron Curtain. And, yeah, it is quite cold out there,” Georgieva said. “And to go in a second cold war for another generation is … very irresponsible.”