General Dynamics Pimps Uncle Sam's Taxpayers

On Thursday the pro-war Washington Post published a report on the windfall profits recently announced by General Dynamics, chiefly through corporate pimpery at the expense of taxpayers.

One hardly finds this news surprising, especially after one recalls the Corpwatch report on the company which noted that "the Secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, is a former General Dynamics executive." The Post reports:

Even as General Dynamics Corp. is transforming itself into a technology firm, wartime demand for old-line defense products has meant steady profits for the Falls Church defense contractor, including an 84 percent jump in the three months that ended June 30, compared with the same period a year ago...

During the second quarter of this year, the combat-systems unit reported a 29.2 percent increase in revenue, to $1.4 billion, compared with $1.1 billion last year. The unit reported net income of $172 million, up 39.8 percent, from the same quarter last year.

Since just before the 2001 terrorist attacks, the unit's revenue and profit have tripled.

General Dynamics said that overall revenue increased 15.5 percent, to $5.9 billion, during the second quarter, compared with $5.1 billion a year ago. Its aerospace division, which includes the Gulfstream business jet, reported a 28.9 percent increase in revenue, to $1 billion. The quarter also included a one-time gain of $216 million from the sale of a construction business that sold sand and gravel.

Like Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockeed Martin, General Dynamics seized the moment after the alCIAda attack of 11 September 2001 to rake in corporate welfare checks from Uncle Sam's taxpayers, supplying instruments of death like "F-16 jets, Abrams tanks, and Trident subs" in anticipation for Uncle Sam's bloody reaction to the terrorist strike.

Like most war pimps, GD benefited greatly from the attack. And as long as Sam's bloody assault on the world escalates, so will its profits.