Beltway Bandits: How US arms contractors exploited COVID and Ukraine

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In this episode, my friends Dan Grazier and Julia Gledhill are two ace military analysts who recently shifted their work over to the Stimson Center. The pair have been critical in challenging the status quo in the military industrial complex and the monitoring the goings-on of what we call Beltway Bandits – the major defense contractors in Washington sucking our taxpayer dollars up like a hoover for well, not much true benefit in return. They fund powerful armies of lobbyists and take advantage of the congressional-Pentagon-corporate revolving door to shape beneficial policies, regulation and contracts, that — surprise — aren’t in the best interest of the American people, or even the safety and security of the nation.

Dan is a Marine Corp veteran who served as a tank commander in the Iraq  and Afghanistan Wars, and Julia is a defense budget and policy analyst who likes to dig into the shadowy numbers game in the Pentagon. 

More from them here:

Biden wants to put the US on permanent war footing (Julia)

F-35: The Part-time fighter jet (Dan)

Pentagon can't account for 63% of nearly $4 trillion in assets (Julia)

Navy Shipbuilding struggles highlight need for alternatives (Dan)