This map, published in the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy’s “Virginia Economic Forecast 2013-2014,” shows how dependent the economies of Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and the Interstate 95 corridor as far south as Hanover County are upon federal contracts.
— JAB
(comments below)
(comments below)
To Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy’s credit, they do point out what the MAJORITY by far of Federal contract spending is for – and that is DOD.
For those that worry about spending and deficits – as well as Virginia’s economic prospects, these simple facts should inform:
Revenue:
Individual income tax and tax withholdings … 1,135.2 789
Corporation income taxes ……………………….. 237.5
about 1.4T is our total revenue stream for DOD, entitlements, and the rest of National Defense not counted in DOD accounting but a significant part of govt spending in the NoVa area.
When one totals up DOD …. AND non-DOD National Defense spending it comes to well over a trillion dollars – out of that 1.4T total revenues.
It’s true, we ADD to that about a trillion in entitlements and another half trillion for the rest of govt but make no mistake that the spending that we see in NoVa that in turn benefits Va comes primarily from DOD and National Defense. DOD not only has over 2 million soldiers and DOD civilian employees but another 700,000 contractor employees.
But I do not think NoVa has much to fear because much of the DOD/National Defense employment footprint in the Md-DC-Va region is HQ type functions.
When/IF cuts come, it will be more like the prior BRACs where “field activities” get cut.
We OUGHT TO SEE – tremendous cost savings these days with the use of drones for all manner of DOD missions and just this week a drone successfully landed on an aircraft carrier – which will change the way that air power works for us – in dramatic ways.
From now on – it won’t matter near as much how many aircraft are lost on a mission – if there are no pilots lost.. just send more drones…
It’s an abomination that we not only spend 3/4 of our available general revenues on DOD+National Defense, it’s mind-boggling that for DOD alone, we spend more than the next 10 countries – COMBINED to include Britain, France, China and Russia!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.