Will Obama kill tanker?
WASHINGTON – After the U.S. Air Force blunder in awarding the tanker contract – at least according to the General Accounting Office – Defense Secretary Robert Gates is personally overseeing a redo and is pushing it to the end of the year.
But anyone who has followed this story from the beginning knows these deadlines mean very little. And as the end of the year comes awfully close to the end of the Bush administration, there’s a possibility a Barack Obama administration will take a completely different track on the tanker contract.
Back in March, Obama publicly expressed his disappointment immediately after the Air Force decision. And since Boeing is a Chicago-based company, Obama, with his Chicago roots, isn’t likely to have a whole lot of sympathy for Northrop Grumman/EADS.
“There’s no doubt that Sen. Obama is from Illinois – Chicago is the hometown of Boeing,” Sen. Jeff Sessions said to Lagniappe. “Some on the Democratic side and some Republicans have complained about this decision. Politically, I believe that Congress will allow Secretary Gates to make this decision – even if it’s a bitter pill for some who lose. I think Congress will allow him to make the decision. The longer it drags out, the more the possibility is, I think, politics will become a part of it.”
On the other hand, Sen. John McCain has been the biggest cheerleader against the Boeing monopoly and even made a trip to Mobile a couple of years ago. But some Democrats have used that against McCain. As the economy has slowed down and populist rhetoric has become more popular in the presidential campaigns, the “keeping American jobs at home” mantra doesn’t bode well for Mobile’s hopes to play host to a Northrop Grumman/EADS assembly plant.
Tanker PR and KeepOurTanker.com
Criticisms have been flung at politcos in Washington for not being on the offensive more in dealing with landing the tanker here, but Mobile County Commission President Stephen Nodine insists the local governments are doing their part.
According to Nodine, outsourcing public relations to Pensacola-based Birdwell Photography & Multimedia, to the chagrin of some local public relations firms, has paid dividends.
Nodine alluded to the success of the pro-Mobile Web site KeepOurTanker.com and how subscribers to the site shutdown an online poll conducted by CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” meant to gauge viewer sentiment about the Air Force awarding the contract to Northrop Grumman/EADS.
“When Lou Dobbs started doing his poll, Jane [Birdwell] was able to flood his poll,” Nodine said. The results of the poll were never aired on Dobbs program.
Nodine also said the move helped shore up support from the Republican congressman of Mobile’s neighboring district, Rep. Jeff Miller.
The Rove Witch Hunt Lumbers On
GOP boogeyman Karl Rove thumbed his nose at a House subcommittee last week, not appearing to testify about the politicization of the Department of Justice while he was a top Bush administration aide – specifically as it pertained to former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
Siegelman, quoted in a press release last week from the left-wing blog VelvetRevolution.us, is now calling for Rove’s arrest.
“We won’t know the truth until Congress digs it out, and that’s why it is so incredibly important that anybody that reads your blog or listens to it or watches it gets on the phone, gets on their computer, or writes Congress and tells them to hold Karl Rove in contempt if he does not show up to testify on July 10th,” the release said. “He needs to be held in contempt, needs to be arrested, needs to be brought in and made to sit before Congress and answer questions.”
It’s good to see Alabama’s former governor, who brought us a failed attempt at a lottery in 1999, has found his calling – catering to rabid left-wing anti-Bush groups. Whether or not we’ll see Rove in shackles or taking a grilling from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is unclear, but it makes for some interesting drama.
Cramer’s Office Looking to Mobile for Advice
North Alabama’s Rep. Bud Cramer (D-Ala.) is looking to Mobile for pointers on economic development according to Nodine.
Last week, Volkswagen officials confirmed Huntsville was the lead choice, with Chattanooga, Tenn. as a second choice, for a new Volkswagen manufacturing facility. The proposed site is just west of the city on a major thoroughfare between Decatur and Huntsville.
However, Cramer’s office wasn’t looking for tips on recruiting prospective companies, but looking to tailor economic incentives for companies as Mobile has done for Thyssen-Krupp and Northrop Grumman/EADS in assembling a coalition of cities and counties -that stretches from Jefferson Parish, La. to the panhandle of Florida.
Gas Prices, Congress and Drilling
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a close ally of Sen. Jeff Sessions, said last week a group of his colleagues are plotting to shut down the Senate floor until the Democratic leadership allows an up-or-down vote on offshore drilling. He didn’t name Sessions as one of his fellow co-conspirators, but one would have to suspect he’s part of it. Sessions has been a vocal critic of the federal government’s inaction to open leases for exploration and drilling.
Opponents maintain that oil companies are not utilizing the lands they have available and the environmental risk isn’t worth any negligible benefit the public may see at the pump – which they say may take up to 10 years.
Proponents argue the effects would be seen immediately, as oil speculators would be frightened away and that would cause oil to fall, which would have some impact on gas prices down the road.
Contact Jeff Poor at jeffreypoor@yahoo.com.
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