Le Air Force?

This story is about a recent Air Force decision to award an enormous contract for new Air Refueling Tanker Jet to a European company rather than the American company also competing for the project, Boeing.

The contract in question is worth billions of dollars (35) and countless numbers of factory jobs, so, the politicians indignation is understandable.

However, righteous anger does ring a tad shallow when you consider that, while the Congressman are upset over the loss of American jobs, they're more upset that the jobs lost are jobs from their own District.

What is particularly interesting here is how on one side of the argument, the so-called "losers," Washington state Democrat Patty Murray (Boeing is based in Washington state), rail against the contract going to EADS-Northrup on the grounds of American job security. Murray argues that as a result of the Tanker Contract going to a European company, ultimately, American factory jobs will be lost and the American economy will further be weakened.

On the other side of the argument, Republican Jeff Sessions of Alabama, counters the job loss argument by pointing out all of the new jobs will be created in his home state. "INsourcing?" I didn't know the word even existed.

This is an interesting situation in the fact that's this isn't at all a Partisan issue, it's all economics. On one side, arguing against the Air Force's decision, you've got Democrat Murray and Kansas Republican Roberts, (I wonder if this may be the only issue those two will ever agree on), and on the other is Republican Sessions. This debate is not about Red vs. Blue, this one is all Green.

I found parts of this story to be an enlightening glimpse into some of the inner workings of Congress, especially the bit at the end where we hear about Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) of the Appropriations Committee considering holding back payment to the Air Force in order to stall the new Tanker Aircraft Contract.

This story recalls earlier class readings where we learned about which powers exactly does Congress have. The reporters note that, while Congress can't explicitly reverse this decision, they can in essence kill the deal by withholding the funding.

Ah, The Power of the Purse.

See also:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87928796