[Corporate Democrat]

If true, this isn't the first time Boeing has done this. In a particularly obnoxious case of corruption, Boeing hired an official who awarded several contracts to Boeing. The official's daughter and fiance got hired at Boeing too. Shocking (not), said official was nominated by Bill Clinton.

Boeing got away with it until she awarded them a 37 billion dollar contract that leased 100 refueling aircraft for $370 million each. Problem: it only cost $150 million to buy each aircraft outright. People noticed. **** hit the fan, the Boeing CEO resigned. She served nine months and got her federal pension. Boeing paid a half billion fine. See: Darleen Druyun.

If this is what it looks like, it will be harder to get Boeing or Lockheed Martin for this, IMHO. Because this time the companies hired the official at a dependent company of a joint venture of theirs. So the financial risk of being too overtly corrupt is minimized.

[Jack Hydrazine]

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial(-congressional) complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.
-farwell address of President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 17, 1961