Posted on 06/26/2008 1:22:24 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The news today that the Government Accountability Office has upheld Boeing's protest of an Air Force tanker contract award given to Northrop Grumman and EADS means that the $40 billion deal remains in doubt. Which is very good news for the campaign coffers of members of Congress.
The Boeing vs. Northrop Grumman fight, which has played out publicly in dueling lobbying campaigns, hasn't just pitted two aerospace behemoths against each other. It's also been a matchup of two of the most generous political donors on Capitol Hill.
The Boeing Political Action Committee has made just over $1 million worth of political contributions this cycle, handing out cash to dozens of candidates and party committees on both sides of the aisle. The Air Force's decision on the tanker contract was announced in late February, and the Boeing PAC made $145,000 in contributions in March and April to a variety of party leaders, members of the Armed Services panels and lawmakers whose districts would benefit from a Boeing-built tanker.
Not to be outdone, the Employees of Northrop Grumman PAC has been similarly active. The committee has doled out $1.1 million in contributions this cycle and $114,000 in March and April alone to a similarly diverse set of recipients. On a smaller scale, the catchily named EADS North America Americans for Competition in Aerospace PAC has made $135,000 in donations this cycle and $26,000 worth in March and April (March was its biggest giving month so far). We'll know by the end of this week what all three PACs contributed in May.
CQ Moneyline (sub req'd) ranks Northrop as the 13th biggest corporate PAC contributor to individual candidates this cycle. Boeing PAC is 19th.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.washingtonpost.com ...
How much went to Boeing’s chief lobbyist, Linda Daschle?
What happened to the man with the best product wins? Best product, lowest cost, cheapest repair?, longevity of service?
Kill all the lobyists/lawyers!
I’m understandably ambivalent about these defense contracts but a significant portion of the work was to be performed in WV and Boeing has torpedoed that for now.
Oh really? And here I was thinking that all this high level noise was just fueled by earnest citizens wanting the best for their tax dollar. Blow me away like a feather /s>
At this point, I’d give the contract to Embraer and let them design something new from scratch. ;)
It bears repeating...
PJ O’Rourke termed the US Congress “a parliament of whores”. That is true of both sides of the aisle.
from: http://www.richardaboulafia.com/shownote.asp?id=272
aboulafia vents: “Yours, Until Our Long National Nightmare Finally Ends, Richard Aboulafia”
extract:
“The GAO basically affirmed all of them, and more. Boeing Business Development VP Chris Raymond had maintained that the company’s protest wasn’t “frivolous.” He was exactly right. This ruling is serious-as-a-heart-attack stuff. In particular, consider the fourth point:
The Air Force conducted misleading and unequal discussions with Boeing, by informing Boeing that it had fully satisfied a key performance parameter objective relating to operational utility, but later determined that Boeing had only partially met this objective, without advising Boeing of this change in the agency’s assessment and while continuing to conduct discussions with Northrop Grumman relating to its satisfaction of the same key performance parameter objective.
As that band member from Spinal Tap would say, “That’s just nitpicking, isn’t it?” It isn’t. That overlong sentence doesn’t highlight a procedural error or a minor oversight. It indicates deliberate favoritism for the Northrop/EADS bid. There are three possible explanations:”
But in general with or without lobbying, if your congressional delegation does not get involved in a decision that moves thousands of jobs from their state to another and it the whole congress doesn't get involved when thousands of jobs are sent overseas, then what are we paying them for?
There is actually a VERY simple solution to all of this.
1. Prohibit any candidate from accepting ANY campaign money, services or other benefits from any individual outside of his district.
2. Completely ban corporate donations, PACs and lobbyist contributions. Political campaigning monies can ONLY be donated to candidates from REGISTERED VOTERS who are registered IN THE DISTRICT for which the election is being held.
3. Put an cap on individual donations of $1000 dollars. That way, ALL campaigns will be limited in the amoun t of money that can be donated.
4. Return to appointing Senators by the state legislatures.
Clearly the Air Force management team needed to move on!
I guess Boeing is gonna return all that cash made off that corrupt Pentagon official ten years ago? ;’)
And I am sure they will.
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