Air Force goes European with new refueling planes

Hot Air ^ | March 01, 2008 | by Ed Morrissey

[palmer]

My post (106) is not spam, it’s a Boeing website, please read it. Your excessive number of posts are spam, 1 or 2 would get the point across.

[FreeReign]

My post (106) is not spam, it’s a Boeing website, please read it. Your excessive number of posts are spam, 1 or 2 would get the point across.

You harping now with your two posts about my ~six posts that document jobs, is spam.

Please don't post to me about it again.

[DuncanWaring]

Northrop Grumman; Fairborn, Ohio

So that's what they do in that building ... I used to work right across the street from there.

[dr_who_2]

That’s corporatethink. Republicans ought to try some Humanspeak, like “We’re keeping thousands of jobs here in the USA.” That’s what wins elections.

Either way, it's bull****. If the Republicans are basing their economic platform on the USAF, Boeing, or Northrup Grumman, they'll help lose thousands more jobs, and I won't be voting for them.

[DuncanWaring]

Actually to say that jobs will be lost in Kansas is a little misleading.

I think "jobs lost in Kansas" is probably accurate.

There are a lot of people in Wichita working on building KC-767s for Italy and Japan. Their long-term employment prospects just dropped considerably.

[dr_who_2]

Yeah, I’m sure Ohio has offices for every aerospace-related company under the sun, including BAE, Airbus, SAAB... If we treat the USAF as an employment program and a bureaucracy for delivering subsidies, we’ll have a very expensive, crappy air force and deficits until the end of time.

[AFreeBird]

If Northrop were making the plane, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But Airbus (France) is making the plane and getting the lion's share of the loot.

And we send enough of our tax dollars overseas as is already, we don't need to be giving Billion dollar defense contracts to foreign countries, especially France.

[dr_who_2]

I would also point out that not all Ohio voters or American voters work in defense/aerospace. While making that small segment of the population happy is not a bad political strategy in itself, alienating the voters who are far more concerned about domestic issues and who don’t work in that industry is politically stupid and plays into the hands of the opposition.

[FreeReign]

If Northrop were making the plane, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But Airbus (France) is making the plane and getting the lion's share of the loot.

I've been documenting some of the Northrop Grumman jobs and some of the EADS, U.S. part supplier jobs.

You should document your point if you wish to make one.

[FreeReign]

I would also point out that not all Ohio voters or American voters work in defense/aerospace. While making that small segment of the population happy is not a bad political strategy in itself, alienating the voters who are far more concerned about domestic issues and who don’t work in that industry is politically stupid and plays into the hands of the opposition.

Why would voters who don't work in the industry be alienated, if voters who are in the industry aren't alienated?

[nyconse]

Perhaps at the time, one would have thought this to be true. Who would have believed that the GOP would settle for one dinky plant in Alabama? Of course we don’t know what other ‘perks’ they received. These are old articles read the new ones now that the contract has been awarded.

[FreeReign]

Perhaps at the time, one would have thought this to be true. Who would have believed that the GOP would settle for one dinky plant in Alabama? Of course we don’t know what other ‘perks’ they received. These are old articles read the new ones now that the contract has been awarded.

I'm sorry. I think that you don't know what you are talking about.

The articles stand -- you counter with...nothing.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I wasn’t even aware that Northrop Grumman was involved in the deal at all until it was just finalized. I always heard it was EADS vs Boeing. Sounds like they wanted an American face on the deal and the only other choice was Lockheed Martin.

[RinaseaofDs]

Reagan’s words again ring true:

“If it’s successful, tax it. If it survives, regulate it. If it starts to fail, subsidize it.”

[FreeReign]

I wasn’t even aware that Northrop Grumman was involved in the deal at all until it was just finalized. I always heard it was EADS vs Boeing. Sounds like they wanted an American face on the deal and the only other choice was Lockheed Martin.

No. The U.S. media report the facts incorrectly and you believe them.

[saminfl]

The USAF contracting office did not work hard enough with Boeing to negotiate the best plane at the best price. Government agencies are notoriously bad at negotiating.

Well the USAF contracting office sure worked hard enough with Boeing the first time around on this jet. That is why Darlene Druyan and some Boeing big shots went to jail.

[saminfl]

Who would have believed that the GOP would settle for one dinky plant in Alabama?

All the jobs in various states this contract will create has been posted several times on this thread. Are you one of those, "don't confuse me with facts, my mind is made up" type of person? There is more than "one dinky little plant" in Alabama. Boeing cheated the first time on this airplane. Maybe that had something to do with the award.

[Always Independent]

Northrop Grumman employees are just as American as Boeing’s And they are NON UNION! GE in Ohio will be building the engines for this program, the refueling system is buil here also.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I don’t believe any crap they say, I just know first hand how defense joint ventures work. The US almost always gets the short end of the stick. Those in our defense indusrty who set up the deals don’t mind mortgaging the company’s future as they’ll be long retired by the time the bill comes due.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Speaking of our favorite company, here’s a story about their greatest product,

Singapore Airlines grounds A380 due to fuel pump defect

http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=6556041&subject=companies&action=article

Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Tuesday it had cancelled an EADS Airbus A380 flight to Sydney because of a fuel pump defect.

snip- Passengers were transferred to a Boeing 747-400 but not all of them could be accommodated.