Posted by
Young Republican on Monday, March 31, 2008 12:34:29 PM
Should our military get the best equipment and does America believe that monopolies should rule our economy or that competition breeds better results? By now the outrage has simmered down a little bit but many are angry at the Air Force for giving a contract for fighter jets to Northrop Grumman, which gave the military a much better plane for a much better price. Boeing was initially given the contract a year or so ago in deal so corrupt that it brought many of the people who participated in it to jail.
When hearing this, John McCain, current Republican nominee for President, continued his fight for cleaner government and pushed hard for ethics reform. When looking to award the contract, again only Boeing put in a bid. McCain, angry at the monopoly of it all, helped push Northrop Grumman to compete with a bid. Northrop Grumman came to win, with cost saving planes that provided overall better security and a better plane for our troops.
Democrats and a few of the new "populist" Republicans, noticeably Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, screamed foul because Northrop Grumman is a US/European joint company as opposed to Boeing which is just a US company, ignoring the fact that the planes would be assembled in Alabama. Now many are trying to get rid of the deal, wanting to put delays on new jets to our soldiers, making sure they get planes of less quality and making sure taxpayers pay more for it.
All objective observers believe that while Washington State has been hurt by this development, the Air Force was helped. Even The New York Times, which now regularly slimes John McCain (you knew it was going to happen) concedes that McCain help push for a more fair and ethical government and was absolutely right during this situation.
The Air Force only has one duty, to get the best plane to our men and women in uniform for the best buck for taxpayers. They did their job. Maybe it's time for those in Congress to do theirs and stop being a legislative arm for a major corporation.
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