Written by The way the news is going, I think this issue will derail John McCain’s campaign when it runs its course.
I don’t think most people yet realize how unprecedented this contract is, or how small the presumed savings from not leasing were (McCain’s claim-to-fame from 2003) in comparison to the severe economic impacts of promoting European aviation above US industry.
I also don’t understand why promoting american jobs and technology is not a factor in the placing of huge contracts like this. Are we the only nation on earth that does not care about this?
In any case, I think Obama will get the edge he needs from this to make my pre-super-Tuesday prediction prove true. McCain already could count on Alabama as a solid red state, but he just lost Washington and Oregon for sure, and hurt himself severely in California and Kansas. There were forty states that stood to get jobs from the US-built airplane proposal, so any of these could become potential additional swing states.
What do you think?
I agree with you completely, Randy. I’m not a Boeing employee, a union member, nor an advocate of ecomomic protectionism, but for the Air Force to choose a mostly European-made product over an American one — for a project that will ultimately be worth $100 billion over 30 years — is INSANE. It’s a total slap in the face to American industry and American workers, especially when you consider that such a decision would never have been made by a European government. It’s not like the 767-based tanker is some sort of bucket of crap. Boeing believed it was the right airframe for the job, considering the types of planes it’s replacing (mostly the 707-sized KC-135s, which are much smaller than a 767). Japan thought it good enough to order for its military, and when was the last time the Japanese invested in a sub-par product?
I hope Congress steps in (again) to put the brakes on this deal. Just like in 2004, Congress could pull the program’s funding. If Northrup and EADS wanted to submit another bid, there’d be a requirement that the airframes themselves would have to be assembled in the US. The Airbus employees in Europe would then go on strike to prevent that from happening!