Why we spend so much money on the military

Will at Wise Bread provides the lowdown:

Why does the US military spend more money than the rest of the world combined? Here's one explanation.

Boeing received more government contract dollars (military or otherwise) last year than any other company. According to official records, we paid Boeing $12 billion dollars in the first two quarters alone.

However, only 5.1% of the contract dollars were won through full and open competition.