This is quite literally true given the amount of money and jobs the defense base (not just direct contractors but the entire supply chain) injects into local ec

This is quite literally true given the amount of money and jobs the defense base (not just direct contractors but the entire supply chain) injects into local economies. Most of American manufacturing has been off-shored. Regulations prevent defense base procurement of even raw materials (such as aluminum, titanium, and steel) not made in the US. Presentations are made to congresspeople of the first, second, and third order economic effects this has particular to their district down to supplier street address (dealing with .shp files will one day kill me) with heat maps of surrounding economic activity driven by the location of these businesses. These four lunch places entirely sustained by this job site, those jobs helping drive a couple service industry jobs, etc. I’ve come to view the defense contractor space as pretty much a 1:1 economic response to the hollowing out of American industry during the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Onshoring back the dollars in the only mutually politically viable way. Social spending has become verboten for Republicans. “Big business” is the same for Democrats. But they both know they need this massive injection of cash into the American economy to avoid the political situation becoming factually untenable. I think Americans probably need significantly more discontent and mistreatment by the state in order to become politically incoherent but if this spending (which is essentially welfare due to its excess post Cold War) disappeared it would be guaranteed.