TW: Yesterday I posted on reason #1, slowing defense is so hard- "any time someone proposes the slightest slowdown they are accused of leaving 'Merica open to the enemy". Today's post shows reason #2- "defense not being stupid, spread their production across as many congressional districts as humanly possible, thereby creating a nice little interest group for almost every defense procurement program".
Reason #2 is extremely powerful, bi-partisan and largely immune to rational defense needs. What the armed forces or a POTUS assert as needed fade quickly to secondary importance. Folks whine about the politicians but they are merely reflecting the parochial interests of their constituents, regardless of party folks are happy to cut spending as long as it is not THEIR spending.
From Chicago Tribune:
"In a victory for the Chicago-based aerospace giant, the House included $2.2 billion for eight more C-17s in a war-spending bill. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has called for ending production once the last plane on order rolls off the Long Beach, Calif., assembly line in 2011 as part of a sweeping Pentagon spending reform push.
...But the plane's supporters had reason to be hopeful as a result of the committee chairman's response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who pleaded for funding.
"The senator has good reason to be optimistic," Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) said, suggesting money for the plane is likely to be forthcoming. "I have been and remain a strong supporter of the C-17 program, and I am committed to finding a responsible way to maintain the program."...The fight is seen as a key test of Obama's budget-cutting efforts in the face of lawmakers looking out for their home-state interests. "Once they get used to overriding the president," Loren Thompson, Lexington Institute defense policy analyst, said of Congress, "they'll keep doing it."
The plane, in production since the early 1990s, has the backing of odd-bedfellows, from liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to conservative Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). A key reason: Its aircraft parts come from more than 650 suppliers in 43 states." The plane's landing gear comes from Cleveland; its cockpit, nose and cargo ramp and door from St. Louis; engines from Connecticut; avionics from Binghamton, N.Y.; tail sections and engine coverings from Dallas; seats from Phoenix; and so on. The plane provides more than 5,000 jobs in Long Beach and another 15,000 elsewhere in California.
..."Congress is mainly concerned about protecting jobs," Thompson said, pausing, "and votes."
...Top Air Force leaders said Thursday that they simply do not need more cargo planes and that they had far more pressing priorities on which to spend money.Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz said the Air Force has 316 large transport aircraft, including the C-17 and C-5 fleets.
A 2005 study said that inventory was sufficient, and a new study due to be completed in the fall will likely reach the same conclusion, Schwartz said.Michael Donley, the Air Force secretary, said if more air mobility is needed it will be cheaper to modernize more of the older C-5 aircraft than build new planes."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri_boeing_may15,0,1195862.story
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