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QUICK LINKS: HOME | NEWS | OPINION | RIGHTPAGES | CHAT | WHAT'S NEW townhall.comThe Air Force's new lease on lifeFrank J. Gaffney, Jr. (back to web version) September 3, 2003  When Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain opens a hearing today [Wednesday] on an Air Force proposal to lease 100 Boeing 767 tanker aircraft, he will cast himself as a defender of the public interest against wasteful defense spending.  It is, therefore, no small irony that this hearing ? and the dilatory, many-months-long process it culminates, is the real waste of time and energy, to the detriment of...

<p>Fifteen months ago, the struggling Boeing Co.'s ambitious plan for a $17billion revenue boost was stuck deep in a Washington quagmire.</p> <p>The aerospace giant wanted to lease to the Pentagon 100 of its 767 airliners modified as aerial refueling tankers, and it had won over the Air Force and key members of Congress.</p>

Reuters: Boeing Tanker Lease Remains 'Complicated' Friday May 9, 2:03 pm ET By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co.'s (NYSE:BA - News) multi-billion proposal to lease 100 jets to the U.S. Air Force as refueling tankers remains a 'complicated issue,' the Defense Department said Friday. ADVERTISEMENT The department, which must endorse any deal before it goes to the White House budget office and ultimately to Congress, cannot rush its work because of the issue's complexities, said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman. 'This is a complicated issue and one that deserves the closest attention to make certain that we make...