Posted on 06/09/2003 4:08:17 PM PDT by TLBSHOW
GOP Senator Hijacks Air Force for Pork
A U.S. senator won't allow the promotions of 850 Air Force officers, including veterans of the Iraq war, and he won't relent until the Air Force gives a base in his state four C-130 cargo planes for the Idaho Air National Guard, according to the New York Times.
Angry Pentagon officials said Sen. Larry Craig has single-handedly delayed the careers of hundreds of officers and stymied important Air Force business for a handful of commonplace planes for more than a month. They refuse to give into his demands, which they call "blackmail."
"If we say yes to this, Katie bar the door," said one top Air Force official.
Craig, however, insists that the Air Force has gone back on a 7-year-old promise to station a squadron of eight C-130s at Gowen Field, an Air National Guard base in Boise, his spokesman Will Hart said.
There are now four C-130s and another training aircraft based there. "This is a problem created by the Air Force that can be easily solved by the Air Force," Hart told the Times.
Craig is taking advantage of a time-honored senate practice that allows a senator to block a nomination, promotion or even legislation and do so indefinitely and anonymously.
According to the Times, such secret holds are used frequently by senators of both parties to express displeasure not necessarily with a nominee but with an administration's action or policy.
But military promotions are typically whisked through the approval process without objection. A former military official disclosed the dispute over the planes.
Craig's hold has affected many officers ranging from young captains and majors to the senior ranks, where the promotions or job nominations for more than two dozen generals are in a holding pattern with no end in sight. According to the Times:
Gen. Robert H. Foglesong, named to command all American air forces in Europe, is cooling his heels in Washington in his current job as vice chief of staff of the Air Force. Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, who commanded allied air forces in the Iraq war, is waiting to receive his fourth star and succeed General Foglesong as the vice chief of staff. Maj. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr. was tapped to pin on a third star and be in place as the new superintendent of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs by last month. But his assignment is still in limbo. Brig. Gen. John A. Weida, the academy's commandant, is filling the position until General Rosa's promotion is approved. Military officials told the Times to give in to Craig now would only invite more holds from other senators.
"We obviously can't operate like that," another senior military official said. "Idaho is a great state, but we can't put more planes in there without taking them out of somewhere else."
Why after seven years Craig is exercising his Senate prerogative now to delay these promotions is a bit of a mystery, the Times reported, adding that the planes have not been a pressing concern for most of his constituents.
"It's not something people here are tapping their fingers over, waiting for them to show up," said Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, spokesman for the Idaho National Guard.
Shame on Craig and shame on the Senate for allowing such a stupid system. How about governance rather than blackmail...
ABC Radio News this morning sourced a couple of their stories to the Times. Perhaps ABC TV News has completed their takeover of the radio side.
I'm just about had it up to here with all these "hallowed, time-honored Senate traditions" that keep getting used to -
a). Do an end run around the Constitution
b). Thwart the will of the voters
c). Grab a fat wad of cash from Uncle Sugar's wallet to be used to buy votes back home.
Craig is a Republican and yes, apparently he is worthless.
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