Where does your revenue stream come from...?

The New York times is running a series of articles regarding the issue of executives who use the US government to benefit their firms they work for.

I am interested to know when US business schools will offer strategy courses on extracting revenue for the firm you are employed by from the US government exclusively.

This tactic of growing your firm from US tax paying citizens is a dirty little secret that few know and exploit to their benefit.

It is a complex web of lobbyists, politicians, CEOs and the firms that supply goods and services to the US government. It is time honored strategy to get the right person into a special government position or office in order to build a rolodex or make the right connections, and then leave that position to leverage and secure a big contract with the US government.

It can be argued that this is where the line is drawn between the left and the right or the democrats and the republicans of the two party system that is what the US government is built upon. The democratic left is interested in the idealism of what government is responsible in doing for the citizenry. The republican right views the government as a big opportunity to build more business opportunities at the expense of the US tax payers without the prevailing idealism of what governments are supposed to do. Sometimes this is considered "pork" by "right" thinking republicans. So it becomes a matter of priority.

For instance, a defense contractor that makes machine screws for aircraft carriers is going to come down politically on the side of the government that is interested in making war in order to secure its position and growth potential in order to stay in business in an industry that is rife with competition in a relatively low tech area of the economy. They are in business to extract revenue from the US government in order to make a product that will in the end aid in the defense or offence of the USA. In a sense, making war is good for business growth.

Currently, we are mired in such a situation where we have American citizens "jacking" the government in search of no bid high paying contracts in the national security area. These guys are serious when it comes to seeking out high dollar contracts that suck the marrow out of the tax base in order to pad the accounts of the executives that run these firms. All in the name of creating perpetual war for the US in order to secure their employment.

Tom Ridge former Homeland Security Secretary does it, Adm. James M. Loy does it and the former under secretary, Asa Hutchinson does it. These guys do their time in the US government and then go profit from their service to a nation that ultimately serves their raison d'etre....war and pestilence.

Will this be a new class offered at the Haas school of business or Northwestern or the Stern school at Columbia? Perhaps Harvard or the Stanford school for business will adopt this model for gleaning profits. One thing is for sure...as we let this go in the name of patriotism, the US will continue to create war in order to line the pockets of executives who are in the business of high jacking governments in order to benefit their firms.