Political fight over jet engine touches nerve June 11, 2010|By KATHLEEN PARKER
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon doesn't want it. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it's unnecessary. Former President George W. Bush was against it, as is Barack Obama, who has threatened to veto a defense authorization bill that includes it.
So why have so many House leaders voted for a $485 million "earmark" for General Electric and Rolls-Royce for continued development of an alternate engine for a military jet, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter?
In a rare turn of bipartisanship amid promises to cut spending and trim the deficit, everyone from Blue Dog Democrats to members of the Progressive Caucus to the Republican Study Committee approved funding the extra engine. What gives?
From this, one might infer that those voting for the engine have done so irresponsibly. So goes the spin coming from Capitol Hill the past few days, compliments of Pratt & Whitney, the company that builds the engine currently being used in the Strike Fighter, under an exclusive contract that gives the company a monopoly.
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I was one of the media people targeted by the Pratt & Whitney PR machinery. An e-mail arrived in my inbox making the case for principles being compromised by congressional leaders.
Included in the e-mail was the following information:
Of the 32 study committee members who signed the "No Earmark" pledge, 17 voted for the engine fund, including Chairman Tom Price, Minority Leader John Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor and Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence.
There's nothing terribly surprising about Republicans voting for a pro-market, defense-enhancing item. On the other hand, at a time when cost cutting isn't so much an option as an imperative, why not avoid duplication and spend development funds elsewhere — or not at all?
Reading on: Twenty-three House members of the Blue Dog Coalition, who have vowed to cut spending, voted for the "earmark." The same goes for 29 members of the Progressive Caucus, including two of the vice chairs, Democratic Reps. Diane Watson and Dennis Kucinich.
Wait, peace-love-and-doves Kucinich voted for it? Something smelled fishier than the ruined shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
The F-35 is going to be VITAL to our national defense. It's replacing the, already at EOL, AV-8B Harrier Jumpjet. The Marines are replacing ALL tactical jet aircraft with the F-35B. Without those being produced, on schedule, several east coast Marine and Navy bases will be at risk of being shuttered, one being Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point - where they're expecting 11 squadrons; MCAS Cherry Point is second only in size and mission to MCAS Mirimar in California. Another station depending on these jets is in Beaufort SC, where 5 squadrons of F-35's are scheduled to be based.
MANY of our Marine, Army and Navy relatives during WWII, Vietnam and every war / conflict - right up to today, have gone through either Camp Lejune or Cherry Point. Shuttering either one of these air stations would be a HUGE economic disaster - not to mention a national security nightmare.
It's time politicians stopped playing games to earn political points when it comes to national security and the vitality of neighborhoods, regions and families.
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