War Spending Is a Priority for Both Front-runners
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(July 29, 2020) — The world’s largest spender on the military, the US chart of defense spending is remarkably straight-lined. Over the years, it traces steadily higher, and it may not be a perfect line, but it is an unmistakable trend.
Apart from huge outlier events, like World War 2, it’s remarkably consistent. Declines are brief and very temporary, and there is no correlation between things like ruling party and the trend the line is going to take in the next few years.
It is this reality that led Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, on a media appearance, to downplay the relevance of the November election, expressing confidence that military spending will be fine whether Trump or Biden ends up winning.
“I think both candidates, at least in my view, appear globally oriented and interested in the defense of our country,” Calhoun said, saying details may change, but no so far as they could pick one candidate as being better than the other.
It’s important for Boeing because their civilian business is down substantially, making the military business where their profits come from. The money will flow, Boeing assures, whether it is Trump or Biden finalizing the spending bills.
The USA’s national bird is not the Eagle — it is the War Hawk.
Boeing CEO Confident in Defense Spending, No Matter Who Wins the 2020 Election
Leslie Josephs and Christina Wilkie / CNBC
(July 29, 2020) — Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said Wednesday that he was confident that whoever wins the White House in November — whether it’s President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden — will continue supporting the defense industry.
“I think both candidates, at least in my view, appear globally oriented and interested in the defense of our country and I believe they’ll support the industries,” Calhoun said on a media call. “They’ll do it in different ways and they’ll have different teams for sure, but I don’t think we’re going to take a position on one being better than the other.”
The Trump administration, lawmakers and political candidates are under increasing pressure to come up with ways to aid the U.S. through the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying economic turmoil.
Defense spending is taking on new importance for the aerospace giant, one of the largest U.S. defense contractors, as its commercial aircraft unit reels from the pandemic. The turmoil drove Boeing to a $2.4 billion loss in the second quarter, prompting further cuts to production of planes like the 787 and the possibility of job reductions beyond the roughly 19,000 people the company said are leaving Boeing.
Revenue for Boeing’s defense and space unit was little changed from the second quarter a year ago at $6.6 billion, but sales at its commercial aircraft unit plunged by more than 65% year over year to $1.6 billion.
The trend has been echoed at other companies like Raytheon Technologies that have both commercial and defense businesses.
“Overall, while the pandemic continues to deeply impact our commercial aero business, our balanced portfolio includes a resilient defense business that will help us offset near-term commercial aero headwinds,” said CEO Greg Hayes during an analyst call Tuesday.
The White House didn’t comment. Representatives for both Trump’s and Biden’s presidential campaigns didn’t immediately comment.
Defense contractors have good reasons to be concerned. Across the country, incumbent Republicans are being dragged down by the president’s poor approval ratings, despite efforts by some candidates to distance themselves from Trump’s positions. Still, most analysts now believe Democrats are well positioned to expand their majority in the House and, increasingly, to win the four net Senate seats they need to take control of the upper chamber.
Boeing’s Calhoun brushed off the possibility of an impact to the industry because of a potential shift in Congress, saying lawmakers “tend to come together” on policies that support jobs.
Like many Fortune 100 companies whose bottom lines are heavily impacted both by government spending and federal regulation, Boeing is careful not to wade too far into partisan politics, or to give the appearance that it favors one party over the other.
So far in the 2020 election cycle, Boeing’s political action committee has donated $1.1 million to federal candidates. Of that, 47% has gone to Democrats and 53% to Republicans, according to the Open Secrets campaign finance tracking website.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
