Defense Secretary Hegseth: Lockheed Should 'Win a Lot', Taxpayers Lose
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a champion of the military-industrial complex, reportedly visited Lockheed Martin's F-35 facility and declared they 'should win a lot.' This comes after the unnamed president criticized defense firms for showering shareholders with dividends and buybacks instead of innovating. (Perhaps he meant RTX, Lockheed's rival, but who's counting?) Never mind that Lockheed
Martin secured over $40 billion in federal contracts in 2023 alone, dwarfing actual innovation budgets. While Hegseth hails Lockheed's 'winning', the American taxpayer bleeds, funneling billions into F-35s that are perpetually over budget and underperforming. This isn't an isolated incident. Hegseth himself, before becoming Secretary of Defense, was a Fox News personality relentlessly pushing for
increased defense spending. His 'conciliatory tone' is less a policy shift and more a predictable nod to the industry that lubricates Washington's gears. One might ask, how many more 'wins' will Lockheed need before American infrastructure or healthcare 'wins' for a change?