Biden’s farewell foreign policy speech touts funding for arms firms
Polygraph | Newsletter n°287 | 14 Jan 2025
*Latest newsletter for VIPs: US financial well-being, 2019 v. 2024. Paid subscribers get access to exclusive content for helping subsidize free, class-based analysis for the masses. Join them here:
*Big thanks to Melanie B. for becoming Polygraph’s latest paid subscriber!
Situation
Joe Biden delivered his foreign policy farewell address yesterday at the State Department. The speech was largely a celebration of his own (perceived) accomplishments; all the things he wants to be remembered by as a foreign policy president. One of them is enacting a historic redistribution of wealth from the public to private weapons companies:
“We’ve significantly strengthened the defense industrial base [read: arms industry], investing almost $1.3 trillion in procurement and research and development. In real dollars, that’s more than America did in any four year period during the Cold War.”
Foreign policy for the one percent
The type of direct, trillion-dollar-plus government investment Biden promised for climate and social welfare only happened for arms companies. The amount Biden just bragged about giving to the weapons industry is about $540 billion more than the combined value of all the projects announced under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS Act.1
The combined effect of Biden’s flagship domestic accomplishments isn’t particularly climate-friendly, either. For example, over 40% of the funding in the infrastructure law — often marketed as a climate bill — is exclusively for highways, roads, and bridges. That’s not just not green, that’s anti-green. Biden described the climate crisis as “the single greatest existential threat to humanity” in yesterday’s speech, but it definitely wasn’t budgeted like one during his administration.
At least there are more robust climate programs now than there were in 2020. The same can’t be said for social welfare — the US social safety net is considerably weaker now than it was when Biden entered office. You might be thinking “but the pandemic assistance Biden inherited was intended to be temporary,” which is true. Also true: the purpose of Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan was to make the bulk of those programs permanent and establish several new ones.
It was never enacted. In 2021, Biden abandoned the strategy needed to overcome the challenge posed by the GOP and a couple recalcitrant Democrats and pass the social spending plan. In early 2022, Biden ditched the trillion-dollar-plus welfare agenda he campaigned on entirely and rebranded himself as a foreign policy president. From that point on, pandemic assistance was no longer something Biden sought to expand or preserve; in fact, the more of those programs that expired, the more he could brag about reducing the deficit. Ending that assistance during a historic bout of inflation devastated the working class. Many people lost their homes because of it.
The Pentagon budget was exempt from Biden’s deficit reduction regime. Little wonder — it takes serious cash to implement a foreign policy as bellicose and destructive as Biden’s. As key social welfare provisions expired or were eliminated, military spending soared. This is not the hallmark of a “foreign policy for the middle class” and it’s definitely not one for the working class. The beneficiaries of Biden’s foreign policy are part of a much more exclusive group. Here are a few of them:
^Alt text for screen readers: Top military contractors pay their CEOs $25 million per year, on average. These corporations rely heavily on public funds. This table lists the top five recipients of federal contracts in 2023, which are all military contractors, along with their 2023 revenue, the percent of that revenue that came from the US government, the name of their CEO, and each CEO’s pay. Lockheed Martin: $68 billion, 73%, James Taiclet, $22.8 million. RTX: $69 billion, 46%, Gregory Hayes, $21.9 million. General Dynamics: $42 billion, 72%, Phebe Novakovic, $22.6 million. Boeing: $78 billion, 28%, David Calhoun, $32.8 million. Northrop Grumman: $39 billion, 86%, Kathy Warden, $23.5 million. Data: Company 10-K SEC filings, annual proxy statements; SAM dot gov.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Abe B., Alan F., Andrew R., AT., BartB., BeepBoop, Bill S., Bob N., Brett S., Byron D., Chris, Chris G., Cole H., D. Kepler, Daniel M., David J., David S.,* David V.,* Elizabeth R., Errol S., Foundart, Francis M., Frank R., Gary W., Graham P., Griffin R., Hunter S., Irene B., Isaac, James H., James N., Jcowens, Jennifer, Jerry S., Joe R., John, John A., John K., John M., Jonathan S., Joseph B., Kheng L., Lea S., Leila CL., Linda B., Linda H., Lindsay, Lindsay S.,* Lora L., Mapraputa, Marie R., Mark L., Matthew H.,* Megan., Melanie B., Michael S., Mitchell P., Nick B., Noah K., Norbert H., Omar D.,* Peter M., Phil, Philip L., Rosemary K., Silversurfer, Springseep, Teddie G., Theresa A., Themadking, Tim C., Timbuk T., Tony L., Tony T., Victor S., William P.
* = founding member
-Stephen (Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Bluesky)
As of 10 Jan 2025, per invest.gov. BIL + IRA + CHIPS = $756,247,845,330.