More Gaffs in the Lockheed et al. Jobs Scare

While Buck McKeon and Lindsey Graham continue to join with Lockheed-Martin in their jobs scare campaign, Ben Freeman at POGO did some fascinating research. Bearing in mind that the dreaded doomsday machine of sequester would return DOD spending to 2006 levels of spending (adjusted for inflation), Ben looked at how major contractor revenue and employment in 2006 compare to the most recent data for 2011.

The answer provides an essential backdrop to what Lockheed and its messengers are attempting to foist. US government revenues to five major defense contractors increased from $101 billion in 2006 to $113 billion in 2011 (+10%); meanwhile their overall employee count declined by over 18,000 (-3%).

The numbers for Lockheed are more dramatic: again in inflation adjusted dollars, Lockheed-Martin government revenues went up $6.7 billion or 18 percent, while it shed 17,000 employees, a decrease of 12 percent.

The data put the lie to what Lockheed, McKeon, Graham and others are trying to imply: if you "rescue" the defense budget with more money, you will save jobs. These data from POGO make interesting grist for Lockheed, McKeon, Graham and their allies to explain.

Ben Freeman explains and adds various necessary caveats in a piece that appeared at POGO's website on Monday. Find it here.