Starve the Beast: found on Facebook

[ErikJ]

10. 7. Give their cronies lucrative excessive govt contracts.

Federal cash has been “the major catalyst for economic growth in the last 30 years,” said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), former chairman of the board of supervisors in Fairfax County, where companies garner more federal contracting dollars than anywhere else in the country. “Clearly that [federal] presence and that pattern of investment has transformed the economy.”

The CEOs of big defense contractors here received compensation packages that rival those on Wall Street:

Robert J. Stevens, chief executive of Lockheed Martin, received $19 million last year, while General Dynamics CEO Jay L. Johnson made $13 million, according to a recent survey conducted for The Washington Post by the research firm Equilar. The CEOs of smaller outfits also do well. Richard Montoni, the CEO of Maximus, pulls in $3 million.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-enclaves-reap-rewards-of-contracting-boom-as-federal-dollars-fuel-wealth/2011/06/27/gIQAWQC5HJ_story_1.html

And the 14,000 6-figure lobbyists to achieve this has grown from 300 to 14,000 in the past 30 years.