Ron Paul takes money from Lockheed Martin (employees)

[dantheman]

I just saw on www.opensecrets.org that Ron Paul was one of the Top 20 recipients of campaign donations from Lockheed Martin, the face of the military-industrial complex in Washington.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000104&type=P&state=&sort=A&cycle=2008

During the 2008 election cycle, Ron Paul got $24,425 from them. What's up with that? I know Ron Paul would never send us to war for the sake of helping corporations make money from the blood of our fellow citizens. But wouldn't people see this as hypocritical from Dr. Paul, who is basically one of the only voices left in the "anti-empire" movement?

[Chieppa1]

my friend works for a defense contractor. Does his personal donations go into a total like that? Because he's a huge Paul guy.

[RCA]

I didn't know there was a "face" to the military industrial complex. In fact, isn't the "military industrial complex" just a collective term to refer to hundreds of different companies and persons?

[Monarchist]

Those are donations from individuals who list their employer as Lockheed Martin.

[specsaregood]

Those are donations from individuals who list their employer as Lockheed Martin.

^That. It seems logical that a big company such as that would have some people that agree with Dr. Paul.

[TonySutton]

It doesn't matter, just as with the donations by white supremacists. Ron Paul will take their money and put it to good use. If they think they are going to get something special for their donation which goes against Dr Paul's time proven principles. They are fooling themselves.

[dannno]

my friend works for a defense contractor. Does his personal donations go into a total like that? Because he's a huge Paul guy.

Ya, what is the nature of these donations?

Ron Paul also received the most money from military personnel.

[MRoCkEd]

No wonder Ron is always supporting the wars. :mad:


Seriously, though, the money is from people who work for Lockheed Martin. But Ron has stated several times that he will take money from anywhere (PACs, lobbyists, people with abhorrent views) but it won't change how he thinks or votes.

[Cowlesy]

Those are donations from individuals who list their employer as Lockheed Martin.

Yes.

I have never seen Lockheed Martin's Political Action Committee ("PAC") give money to Ron Paul.


That's why I have trouble bashing Jack Conway for taking money from BP employees. So some regional manager loves Jack Conway because he's probably met him at some oil company shareholder meetings. So what? Private donations are private donations.

[Imaginos]

Those are donations from individuals who list their employer as Lockheed Martin.
Yes.
No one/ no special interest group was able to buy Ron's vote, never.
His vote is NOT for sale and those special interest groups in and out of Washington already know it.

[someperson]

It doesn't matter, just as with the donations by white supremacists. Ron Paul will take their money and put it to good use. If they think they are going to get something special for their donation which goes against Dr Paul's time proven principles. They are fooling themselves.
This :)

[Matt Collins]

^That. It seems logical that a big company such as that would have some people that agree with Dr. Paul.
Not only that, but engineers tend to really like Ron because the the idea of liberty is a very logical and rational position. :)

[tremendoustie]

Not only that, but engineers tend to really like Ron because he the idea of liberty is a very logical and rational position. :)

Yep, and if you work for a defense contractor you have a front row seat for all the waste and B.S.

[Epic]

I just saw on www.opensecrets.org that Ron Paul was one of the Top 20 recipients of campaign donations from Lockheed Martin, the face of the military-industrial complex in Washington.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000104&type=P&state=&sort=A&cycle=2008

During the 2008 election cycle, Ron Paul got $24,425 from them. What's up with that? I know Ron Paul would never send us to war for the sake of helping corporations make money from the blood of our fellow citizens. But wouldn't people see this as hypocritical from Dr. Paul, who is basically one of the only voices left in the "anti-empire" movement?

These are donations from people who work at LM. These are mostly engineering folks. It's not a donation from the company itself.

LM is a huge company and benefits a lot from the gov. but also does a lot of stuff not related to "national security" too.

[dantheman]

I appreciate everyone's comments. I know Ron Paul could never be swayed from his views just from some elitist corporation throwing money at him.

I know the media loves to throw in his face that Ron Paul takes money from white supremacists, so that makes him a racist. Even though we all know Dr. Paul is anything but.

In the meantime, here's the list of people who got money from the actual PAC. Very interesting list:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cmte=C00303024&cycle=2008

[brandon]

Those are donations from individuals who list their employer as Lockheed Martin.

This.

I was actually an intern at Lockheed during the early part of his presidential campaign. I'm pretty sure I marked my employer as "student" when I sent my donations though, so his total contributions from them should have been even higher. Their were others I worked with who sent him money too.

[brandon]

Not only that, but engineers tend to really like Ron because the the idea of liberty is a very logical and rational position. :)

this too.

[Uncle Emanuel Watkins]

It doesn't matter, just as with the donations by white supremacists. Ron Paul will take their money and put it to good use. If they think they are going to get something special for their donation which goes against Dr Paul's time proven principles. They are fooling themselves.

Any person defining oneself as an individual is a supremist. My little toe is as much me as it is a little toe. We work together to remain supreme and seperate. Your toe is not my toe nor do I need to concern or associate myself with it. If I don't associate with your little toe, that doesn't make me a supremist racist.
On the continent of Africa during the slave trade, there were three kinds of little toes: the master little toe, the slave little toe, and the outcaste little toe. As the master little toes exploited the enslaved little toes in a society that operated rather peacefully, both the master and enslaved little toes together rejected the outcaste little toes outright.
It was these outcaste little toes who were rounded up and sold by the Portuguese for as little as a single horse for 12 of their worthless souls
to Europeans and the people in the Western World of America.

[libertybrewcity]

I am surprised voters working for the military industrial complex would give money to ron because they might lose their job security. I guess ron just makes that much sense!

[brandon]

I am surprised voters working for the military industrial complex would give money to ron because they might lose their job security. I guess ron just makes that much sense!

A lot of engineers work for the military industrial complex because that's where most of the best paying jobs are. If we cut off their funding the good paying jobs would move elsewhere and we wouldn't need to consider working for them.

[libertybrewcity]

A lot of engineers work for the military industrial complex because that's where most of the best paying jobs are. If we cut off their funding the good paying jobs would move elsewhere and we wouldn't need to consider working for them.

true.

[freshjiva]

I would like to reply to everyone's general points here.

Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors wouldn't necessarily suffer under a Paul administration.

There is a clear separation between defense spending and military spending.

Yes, Ron Paul would end the wars and call the troops home ASAP, but that doesn't mean he'd cut weapons contracts and other defense spending one bit.

[michaelwise]

The real threat of a complete and total economic collapse will do that to people. Maybe they care more about their country than their job.

[nobody's_hero]

No wonder Ron is always supporting the wars. :mad:.

Thank you for my first "lol" after a long day at work. :)

[phill4paul]

No wonder Ron is always supporting the wars. :mad:


Thread winner!:D

[sailingaway]

Ron has proven himself over a very long time.

[Fox McCloud]

to quote Walter Block "go ahead and take flyers from the opposition--it's one less flyer than can cause damage to some other person".

[Todd]

Those are donations from individuals who list their employer as Lockheed Martin.

Yes...but the same goes for Goldman Sachs and people go crazy about their donations to the Messiah.

[Todd]

I just saw on www.opensecrets.org that Ron Paul was one of the Top 20 recipients of campaign donations from Lockheed Martin, the face of the military-industrial complex in Washington.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000104&type=P&state=&sort=A&cycle=2008

During the 2008 election cycle, Ron Paul got $24,425 from them. What's up with that? I know Ron Paul would never send us to war for the sake of helping corporations make money from the blood of our fellow citizens. But wouldn't people see this as hypocritical from Dr. Paul, who is basically one of the only voices left in the "anti-empire" movement?


I think that in a worst case scenario, this could be spun to try to make Paul look bad in the same way that Tim Russert tried to use the earmarks to Paul's Texas district agains him on his Meet the Press visit in 07. If Paul runs again there should probably be a strategy to explain it, but I wouldn't call it hypocrisy.

[osan]

Not only that, but engineers tend to really like Ron because the the idea of liberty is a very logical and rational position. :)

My thought exactly.

[silus]

24,000 can buy you a Pontiac. It can't buy you political influence. The end.

[rich34]

my friend works for a defense contractor. Does his personal donations go into a total like that? Because he's a huge Paul guy.

Yes it does. When you donate it asks for your employer. If the trend is similar there's no wonder it's like that because the U.S military gave more money to Ron Paul as well, but do you think it was for more war? Could be the same thing within the military industrial complex. Maybe some employees know of the evil at hand.

[osan]

Yep, and if you work for a defense contractor you have a front row seat for all the waste and B.S.

You don't know the half of it. Back in '78 I worked at a place called Dalmo Victor in Silicon Valley. I worked mostly on ALR-69 fire control/ECM systems for F-111s. It got to the point where I could recognize individual units by the scrapes on their finishes. The military, being paranoid as they are, always wanted the latest possible updates. I once got an aft unit back that I'd done a modification on with only an additional hour or so on its Hobbs meter. Someone, Texas Instruments or whoever, would devise a chip that was a few nanoseconds faster and the Air Force would have to have it immediately.

Anyhow, one day I got a forward unit for which I was to replace either an RF amp or a TWT (traveling-wave tube), and oddly I found the actual invoice with the work order, which was not supposed to have happened. The bill for about 2 hours work and a part that might have cost a couple hundred dollars: $162,000.00! No shit. Well, I brought this to the attention of my supervisor, a very obviously gay man who had eyes for me. He turned sheet-white on the spot, closed the door behind me, and with a demeanor I'd never seen before nor since, told me in no incertain terms that I was not to breathe a word of this to anyone, at any time, for any reason and that I was to forget what I'd seen there. Fine by me.

Yeah, those companies have been raking it in by the shitloads for a very long time. It is precious little wonder why they are none too eager to see wars end.

[james1906]

24,000 can buy you a Pontiac. It can't buy you political influence. The end.

winner winner chicken dinner

[Zippyjuan]

From the Open Secrets website:

This table lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate , rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Because of contribution limits, organizations that bundle together many individual contributions are often among the top donors to presidential candidates. These contributions can come from the organization's members or employees (and their families). The organization may support one candidate, or hedge its bets by supporting multiple candidates. Groups with national networks of donors - like EMILY's List and Club for Growth - make for particularly big bundlers.

[malkusm]

to quote Walter Block "go ahead and take flyers from the opposition--it's one less flyer than can cause damage to some other person".

I always do this. Waste the resources of the enemy campaigns! :p

[Marenco]

Peter thiel a bliderberg attendee has also donated to ron paul and rand paul check it out on that website the OP put. The rabbit hole goes deeper.

[South Park Fan]

Peter thiel a bliderberg attendee has also donated to ron paul and rand paul check it out on that website the OP put. The rabbit hole goes deeper.

I'm confused. Peter Thiel says he's a libertarian and donated to Ron and Rand Paul, the Seasteading Institute, and the Marijuana Policy Project. But, he also donated to various neocons.

http://newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=CA&last=thiel&first=peter

[Anti Federalist]

I didn't know there was a "face" to the military industrial complex. In fact, isn't the "military industrial complex" just a collective term to refer to hundreds of different companies and persons?

In my case it is.

Google TWIC sometime.

I have to pay my slave ID fees directly to Lockheed Martin.

I loathe this company on a personal level.

[james1906]

In my case it is.

Google TWIC sometime.

I have to pay my slave ID fees directly to Lockheed Martin.

I loathe this company on a personal level.

Same here, luckily my employer reimbursed it. The fact that the check is made directly to them shows they aren't even hiding the corporatism anymore.

[Anti Federalist]

Same here, luckily my employer reimbursed it. The fact that the check is made directly to them shows they aren't even hiding the corporatism anymore.

James Loy was the commandant of the Coast Guard that pushed this TWIC mess through congress, even though USCG lower officers said it wasn't needed.

He then retires, IIRC that's when Thad Allen took over, and where did James Loy go?

Right to Lockheed Martin, where he sits on the BoD.

He's also the CEO of a creepy "identity solutions" company called L-1.

[Fredom101]

He was also the top receipient of donations from the military, who are paid to kill people. Should he have turned away these donations? Does this mean RP is pro-killing innocent people?

This whole thing is silly.