The levels of power in Washington, D.C. are pulled by those with the most influence or those that can buy the most influence. Rep. Buck McKeon has a significant amount of influence as Chairman of the powerful Armed Services committee. McKeon's is one of the most strident defenders of the military-industrial complex, and his corporate campaign donors have purchased his influence to protect their industry.

Next Tuesday, October 30, at 2 pm ET/11 am PT to 4 pm ET/1 pm PT, Brave New Foundation's War Costs is going to lead a Twitter bomb aimed at House Armed Services Chairman Buck McKeon, the leading recipient of defense contractor campaign contributions in Congress and one-man force for the military-industrial-congressional complex.

CNN aired a telling segment on how the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex works. The Army insists holding off on refurbishing thousands of sedentary tanks sitting in the California desert, which would save taxpayers $3 billion. But 173 members of Congress disagree: The jobs in their districts and campaign contributions they might lose if producing and fixing tanks momentarily halts is just too much, though don't expect any of them to say that. Contractor powerhouse General Dynamics, which spreads around money to Congress quite generously, stands to benefit.

It's moments like this that underscore the near, if not complete, evaporation between the interests of the war industry and the public entity that's supposed to have oversight over it, the U.S. Congress. Read this post from Colorlines' Seth Freed Wessler and try to describe where the drone lobby and industry end and where the House of Represenatives Unmanned Systems (or Drone) Caucus begins: 

By Robert Greenwald and John Amick

Recent commentators have rightly called out Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan's obvious hypocrisy on cuts to Pentagon spending. This strikes us as a good time to step back and take a broader look at Pentagon spending, and deconstruct the spin coming from the Washington elites.

As Robert Greenwald and I pointed out in our latest post, the defense industry and their protectors are turning out en masse this week to oppose defense cuts planned to take effect Jan. 2, 2013. One of those protectors -- actually, THE protector on Capitol Hill -- is House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.). McKeon called on industry leaders to testify today in front of the committee to warn of the job losses and other stresses the industry faces if the cuts happen. 

You know it's a big moment for defenders of the United States' bloated military budget when some of the all-time superstars of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex descend on Capitol Hill to fight for their perceived right to profit.