On 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.
The point of the Twitter bomb is to flood his feed with tweets, hopefully get some attention on his record and, if we have enough people involved, make our hashtag for this -- #BlastBuck -- a trending topic on Twitter. Tweets should be aimed at his handle, @BuckMcKeon.
To encourage more participation, we have several sample tweets that could be used, below. Send tweets starting at 2 ET and going out every 5/10/15 minutes, or however often you choose.
For War Costs' part, we are only focusing on his track record as THE darling of the defense industry on Capitol Hill, no election stuff. Others are focusing on his election in CA's 25th congressional district and other aspects of all that is McKeon. There are many issues to choose from regarding his record: immigration, the environment, you name it. Here's his Project Vote Smart page for more information on his positions and how interest groups rate them.
Thanks, and happy blasting!
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#BlastBuck
Oct. 30, 2012
2 pm – 4pm EST
11am – 1pm PST
@BuckMcKeon
All tweets fit under 140-character limit:
.@BuckMcKeon is chair of the House Armed Services Committee, which funds and oversees the #Pentagon. #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon receives more money from defense contractors than anyone in #Congress. http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?Ind=D #BlastBuck
McKeon’s top contributors for the ’11-’12 election cycle (also in tweet form below):
Lockheed Martin - $64,250
Northrop Grumman - $50,500
General Atomics - $38,800
General Dynamics - $36,000
Boeing - $31,750
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00006882&cycle=2012
Who is @LockheedMartin’s man on Capitol Hill? @BuckMcKeon, who’s gotten $64,250 from LM this election http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00006882&cycle=2012 #BlastBuck
Who is @NorthropGrumman's man on Capitol Hill? @BuckMcKeon, who’s gotten $50,500 from NG this election http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00006882&cycle=2012 #BlastBuck
Who is General Atomics’ man on Capitol Hill? @BuckMcKeon, who’s gotten $38,800 from GA this election http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00006882&cycle=2012 #BlastBuck
Who is General Dynamics’ man on Capitol Hill? @BuckMcKeon, who’s gotten $36,000 from GD this election http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00006882&cycle=2012 #BlastBuck
Who is @Boeing’s man on Capitol Hill? @BuckMcKeon, who’s gotten $31,750 from Boeing this election http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00006882&cycle=2012 #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon’s top contributors have gotten more money from the government, while cutting jobs, since 2007. http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/08/defense-contractor-time-machine-less-spending-more-jobs-analysis-reveals.html #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon’s top contributors got over $100 billion from the government in 2011. http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2012/08/defense-contractors-downsized-good-times-report-finds/57294/ #BlastBuck
CEOs of @BuckMcKeon’s top contributors make avg of $21.5M, which cld pay salaries of 100s of their workers http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2012/08/pentagon-contractor-ceo-compensation-is-second-to-none.html #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon’s top contributors have gotten more govt money while increasing their lobbying expenditures. http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120707/DEFREG02/307070001/U-S-Firms-Spending-More-Lobbying #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon puts contractor profit, lobbyists, his own gain ahead of a sensible #Pentagon budget. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-hartung/pentagon-spending-profits_b_1901802.html #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon’s top contributors by industry: #Defense, Misc Defense, Defense Electronics, Lobbyists http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00006882&cycle=2012 Telling. #BlastBuck
#Pentagon budget cuts @BuckMcKeon calls extreme only take spending back to 2006 levels, a time of 2 wars. http://www.ciponline.org/research/entry/myths-vs-realities-of-pentagon-spending #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon likens timid #Pentagon budget cuts to ‘shooting ourselves in the head.’ http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-05-10/house-budget-vote/54880512/1 #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon prioritizes #Pentagon and contractor profits over food stamps, social safety net programs. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-05-10/house-budget-vote/54880512/1 #BlastBuck
#Pentagon budget cuts would not ‘hollow out the force,’ as @BuckMcKeon claims http://www.ciponline.org/images/uploads/publications/CIP_Fact_Sheet_Myths_vs_Realities_of_Pentagon_Spending.pdf #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon calls #Pentagon budget cuts ‘very extreme,’ though he says nothing of the extreme waste. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1iN8jx3QbA #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon is chairman of the #drone caucus in the House. http://unmannedsystemscaucus.mckeon.house.gov/about/purpose-mission-goals.shtml #BlastBuck
The goals of @BuckMcKeon’s #drone caucus are barely distinguishable from those of the drone lobby. http://www.warcosts.com/when_the_defense_industry_and_congress_are_indistinguishable_drone_edition #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon worked hard to increase US government #drone use, overseas and, soon, domestically. http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jul/05/drone-makers-friends-washington/ #BlastBuck
.@BuckMcKeon defends funding #Pentagon programs the #military doesn’t say it needs or wants. http://www.warcosts.com/congress_wasting_money_tanks_army_doesnt_want #BlastBuck
#Pentagon contractors are making record earnings, and have for the past decade. http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2012/07/defense-contractors-beat-wall-street-expectations-despite-budget-pressures/57046/ #BlastBuck #Afghanistan #Iraq
Despite decrying cuts to #Pentagon budget, contractors will have high revenue for yrs to come. http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/industrial-products/assets/pwc-aerospace-defense-review-and-forecast.pdf #BlastBuck @BuckMcKeon
Polls show curbing high levels of #Pentagon spending is popular with the public. http://ow.ly/eOcpX #BlastBuck @BuckMcKeon
People on all sides of the political spectrum advocate cuts the #Pentagon budget. http://www.stimson.org/spotlight/what-kind-of-defense-budget-would-the-american-public-make/ #BlastBuck @BuckMcKeon
.@BuckMcKeon’s top contributors also lavishly funded his wife’s campaign for a CA state Assembly seat. http://www.salon.com/2012/02/01/pentagon_contractors_flock_to_mrs_mckeon/ #BlastBuck
