GOP war hawks slam Biden initiative for “undermining” Pentagon efforts to prey on desperate young people.
By Jordan Uhl, The Lever
Amid a brutal year for military recruiting, conservative war hawks are openly fretting that President Joe Biden’s announcement last week of a one-time means-tested student debt cancellation will undercut the military’s ability to prey on desperate young Americans.
“Student loan forgiveness undermines one of our military’s greatest recruitment tools at a time of dangerously low enlistments,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) tweeted shortly after the announcement.
In the six years since Banks first ran for Congress, he has taken more than $400,000 from defense contractors, weapons manufacturers, and other major players in the military industrial complex. Corporate political action committees for Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, L3Harris Technologies, and Ultra Electronics have each donated tens of thousands of dollars to Banks, according to FEC data analyzed by OpenSecrets. He now sits on the House Armed Services Committee, which oversees the Department of Defense and United States military.
Members of the committee have already collectively received more than $3.4 million from defense contractors and weapons manufacturers this election cycle.
Recent Posts
Insurgents or Insiders, a Zero Hour Conversation With Norman Solomon
Take Action Now Where is the Democratic blue road going?By RJ Eskow and Norman Solomon, The Zero Hour Report When I think about the left-wing…
Crypto, AI, and AIPAC Super PACs Are Spending in Lockstep Against Progressives
Take Action Now Unprecedented sums are being spent on Democratic primaries, reshaping races while keeping their policy agendas largely out of public…
Don’t Look Away from Cuba
Take Action Now The indictment of Raul Castro is the latest in a string of escalations aimed at building pretext for a U.S. invasion of the island…
House Democrats are Finally Shifting on Israel. Party Leaders Must Listen
Take Action Now More than 100 Democratic lawmakers voted against arms for Israel. They’re listening to the people – their bosses are behindBy…