Another new report on this administration letting foxes guard the henhouse? You betcha. This time, the World Policy Institute is reporting on excessive influence from the weapons industry, which, coincidentally, favors the Bush campaign coffers generously. From the press release: --Weapons Industry Contributions Tilt Towards Bush, Republicans: George W. Bush and John Kerry have been the top two recipients of contributions from Political Action Committees and individuals associated with the arms industry in the 2004 election cycle, receiving $766,355 and $399,000 respectively, a roughly 2 to 1 margin in favor of President Bush. Of the more than $13 million in arms industry contributions in the 2004 election cycle, 62% went to Republican candidates or committees, while 38% went to Democratic candidates or committees, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Vice President Cheney's former firm, Halliburton, which is involved in both Pentagon contracting and oil and gas ventures, has given 86% of its contributions to Republican candidates or committees and only 14% to Democratic candidates in the 2004 cycle. --Contractors Have Thrived Under Bush Policies: Contracts to the Pentagon's top ten contractors jumped from $46 billion in 2001 to $80 billion in 2003, an increase of nearly 75%. Halliburton's contracts jumped more than nine times their 2001 levels by 2003, from $400 million to $3.9 billion. Northrop Grumman's contracts doubled, from $5.2 billion to $11.1 billion, over the same time frame; and the nation's largest weapons contractor, Lockheed Martin, saw a 50% increase, from $14.7 billion to $21.9 billion. --Ties That Bind - Contractor Connections to the Bush Administration: When the Bush administration first took office, it appointed 32 executives, paid consultants, or major shareholders of weapons contractors to top policymaking positions in the Pentagon, the National Security Council, the Department of Energy (involved in nuclear weapons development), and the State Department. Since that time, the "revolving door" has continued to spin, including a high profile scandal in which Air Force procurement official Darleen Druyun pled guilty to criminal charges for negotiating for a position at Boeing while simultaneously negotiating with the company on the terms of a controversial scheme to lease 100 more Boeing 767 airliners for modification and use as aerial refueling tankers. Another controversial move involved Pentagon acquisition chief Edward "Pete" Aldridge's decision to move straight from Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon to a position on the board of Lockheed Martin. For the full report go to www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/TiesThatBind.html .