Just a couple of points of clarification.
First of all, there have been large weapons programs that have been canceled by Republicans. A good example is the Crusader program canceled by Donald Rumsfeld (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM2001_Crusader) Republicans tend to view weapons systems in terms of how they fit with overall strategic goals. Democrats tend to view weapons systems as government works to support their Keynesian economic belief system.
Secondly, while defense is important to me, so are taxes and economic freedom. Though I do earn my living in defense, my skills are portable. Quite a few years of my defense work involved creation of manufacturing execution systems and engineering data analysis systems ( real-time SPC and DOE ). Outside of manufacturing, I have also created data warehouses for banks, and have a few scars to show from my involvement in a now defunct dot-com.
Should economic armageddon occur with the collapse of the dollar (the dollar reaching parity with the Canadian dollar isn't collapse, it is depreciation. The dollar reaching parity with the Yen would be collapse), then I expect to see a resurgence of manufacturing in this country. (Both for domestic consumption, and for export) And I don't think I would have any problem jumping back into the civilian sector should defense budgets come under fire the way they did during the 90's.
So in summary, I'm not Republican because I work in defense. I'm Republican because the goals of the party are closer to my belief system than those of any other party. (I'm also very comfortable with Libertarians and the Constitution Party) And I work in defense because I believe in what I do, I have skills that are needed, and it provides interesting work that pays well.
First of all, there have been large weapons programs that have been canceled by Republicans. A good example is the Crusader program canceled by Donald Rumsfeld (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM2001_Crusader) Republicans tend to view weapons systems in terms of how they fit with overall strategic goals. Democrats tend to view weapons systems as government works to support their Keynesian economic belief system.
Secondly, while defense is important to me, so are taxes and economic freedom. Though I do earn my living in defense, my skills are portable. Quite a few years of my defense work involved creation of manufacturing execution systems and engineering data analysis systems ( real-time SPC and DOE ). Outside of manufacturing, I have also created data warehouses for banks, and have a few scars to show from my involvement in a now defunct dot-com.
Should economic armageddon occur with the collapse of the dollar (the dollar reaching parity with the Canadian dollar isn't collapse, it is depreciation. The dollar reaching parity with the Yen would be collapse), then I expect to see a resurgence of manufacturing in this country. (Both for domestic consumption, and for export) And I don't think I would have any problem jumping back into the civilian sector should defense budgets come under fire the way they did during the 90's.
So in summary, I'm not Republican because I work in defense. I'm Republican because the goals of the party are closer to my belief system than those of any other party. (I'm also very comfortable with Libertarians and the Constitution Party) And I work in defense because I believe in what I do, I have skills that are needed, and it provides interesting work that pays well.
