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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19672.htm
War Is A Racket

US Lawmakers Have As Much As
$196 Million Invested In "Defense" Companies

By The Associated Press

03/04/08 "AP" -- -- WASHINGTON:

Members of the U.S.Congress have
as much as $196 million (126.2 million)
collectively invested in companies doing
business with the Defense Department,
earning millions since the start of
the Iraq war,

according to a new study by a
nonpartisan research group.

The review of lawmakers' 2006
financial disclosure statements,
by the Washington-based Center
for Responsive Politics,

suggests that members' holdings
could pose a conflict of interest
as they decide the fate of Iraq war
spending.

Several members who earned the most
from defense contractors have plum
committee or leadership assignments,

including Democratic Sen. John Kerry,
independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman
and House Republican Whip Roy Blunt.

The study found that more Republicans
than Democrats hold stock in defense
companies, but that the Democrats who
are invested had significantly more
money at stake.

In 2006, for example,
Democrats held at least $3.7 million
(?2.3 million) in military-related investments,
compared to Republican investments of $577,500
(?372,000).

Overall,
151 members hold investments
worth $78.7 million (?50.6 million)
to $195.5 million (?125.9 million)
in companies that receive defense
contracts that are worth at least
$5 million (?3.2 million).

These investments earned them anywhere
between $15.8 million (?10.1 million)
and $62 million (?39.9 million) between
2004 and 2006, the center concludes.

It is unclear how many members still hold
these investments and exactly how much money
has been made.

Disclosure reports for 2007
are not due until this May.

Also,
members are required to report
only a general range of their
holdings.

According to the report,

presidential hopefuls Barack Obama
and John McCain did not report any
defense-related holdings on their filings;

Hillary Rodham Clinton did note
holdings in such companies as
Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon,
but sold the stock in May 2007.

All three are members of the Senate.

Not all the companies invested in
by lawmakers are typical defense
contractors.

Corporations such as
PepsiCo,
IBM,
Microsoft
and Johnson & Johnson
have at one point received
defense-related contracts,
the report notes.

"So common are these companies,
both as personal investments
and as defense contractors,
it would appear difficult to
build a diverse blue-chip
stock portfolio without at
least some of them,"

wrote the center's Lindsay Renick Mayer.

Still,
earning dividends from
companies tied to the military

"could be problematic" for members
that oversee defense policy and
budgeting, Mayer adds.

Kerry, a Democrat,
a member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, is identified
as earning the most at least $2.6
million between 2004 and 2006 from
investments worth up to $38.2
million (?24.6 million).

Spokesman David Wade said Kerry,
who staunchly opposes the war in Iraq,
is one of many beneficiaries of family
trusts which he doesn't control.

Wade also noted that Kerry does
not sit on the Appropriations Committee,
which has direct control of the defense budget.

"He has a 24-year Senate record
of working and voting in the best
interests of our men and women
in the military,

not of any defense contractors," Wade said.

Lieberman, an independent and
chairman of the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee and a member of the
Armed Services Committee,
held a considerably smaller
share at $51,000 (?32,850).

A spokesman for Blunt,
a senior member of House Republican,
leadership who held at least $15,000
(?9,660) in Lockheed Martin stock in 2006,
said the insinuation that lawmakers' votes
might be affected by their portfolios is "offensive."

"I don't pretend to speak for other offices,
but I am fairly certain that no member
would consider their personal finances
when voting on issues as important as
sending our men and women in uniform
into harms way," said Nick Simpson.

Lieberman and Blunt support
continued operations in Iraq.

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