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Post by Mkitty is pro kitty on Feb 15, 2011 20:24:55 GMT -5
The Boondoggle That Wouldn't Die? The New Cost-Cutting Congress May Spend Billions More On A Jet Engine The Pentagon Doesn't Want Despite vocal cries for austerity and belt-tightening on Capitol Hill, Congress and the White House, budget officials have quietly continued to pay for the development of a multi-billion-dollar military jet engine the Pentagon says it doesn't need and the defense secretary himself called a wasteful boondoggle. "The Secretary of Defense [and] the President have made the point that this is not something we need," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today. "I think that whenever the military tells you something that -- the military is spending money on something the military doesn't need, especially in these times, it's important we pay heed to that." The green light to continue spending on the engine's development came from the Office of Management and Budget last month at the urging of congressional leaders. The decision arrived on the heels of a $9 million lobbying push and an equally aggressive advertising campaign by General Electric, the corporate giant that has argued that the nation benefits by having two different versions of the engine that will power the Joint Strike Fighter. And it comes as President Obama named General Electric's CEO chairman of his new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. [to read more of the article go to: abcnews.go.com/Blotter/joint-strike-fighter-engine-boondoggle-die/story?id=12724248 |
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deziloooooo
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:22:04 GMT -5
Posts: 10,723
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Post by deziloooooo on Feb 15, 2011 21:23:38 GMT -5
The Boondoggle That Wouldn't Die? The New Cost-Cutting Congress May Spend Billions More On A Jet Engine The Pentagon Doesn't Want Despite vocal cries for austerity and belt-tightening on Capitol Hill, Congress and the White House, budget officials have quietly continued to pay for the development of a multi-billion-dollar military jet engine the Pentagon says it doesn't need and the defense secretary himself called a wasteful boondoggle. "The Secretary of Defense [and] the President have made the point that this is not something we need," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today. "I think that whenever the military tells you something that -- the military is spending money on something the military doesn't need, especially in these times, it's important we pay heed to that." The green light to continue spending on the engine's development came from the Office of Management and Budget last month at the urging of congressional leaders. The decision arrived on the heels of a $9 million lobbying push and an equally aggressive advertising campaign by General Electric, the corporate giant that has argued that the nation benefits by having two different versions of the engine that will power the Joint Strike Fighter. And it comes as President Obama named General Electric's CEO chairman of his new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. [to read more of the article go to: abcnews.go.com/Blotter/joint-strike-fighter-engine-boondoggle-die/story?id=12724248Funny I just put a post on this one. Boehner, our House speaker , GE is in his area, others too, but he's the big cheese on this one is pushing it, no one wants it. Air force, planes belong to them right, did back in the day, think they would know what they would want. Joint chiefs against it , Pentagon Folks, Secretary of Defense and the President. Take the president out of it, political, still three against but the Speaker..push, push and he wants cut, cuts, cuts except in his State, typical political, talking out of both sides of the mouth. Little boon doggle, $2.9 Billion..and no one wants it but him..unbelievable. Hypocrite as they all are. ----------------------------------------------------------------- F-135 the Pratt and Whitney engine " "F135 Delivers the Best Value for the F-35 Four out of five independent studies have concluded that an alternate engine will not save money over the life of the JSF program. The Administration and Pentagon budgets have not funded an alternate engine for the F-35 for the past three years. Continued funding for an alternate engine has come from Congressional earmarks. In fact, funding the alternate engine has taken money away from the overall JSF program, reducing the number of aircraft which can be produced. The total aircraft impact of continuing with the alternate engine could be a reduction of up to 40 aircraft, which will drive up the unit cost of each plane. In his remarks on changes to the defense budget delivered on April 6, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced his intention to eliminate “programs where the requirements were truly in the exquisite category and the technologies required were not reasonably available to affordably meet the program’s cost or goals.” At an additional cost of $2.9 billion, the alternate engine falls into the “exquisite” category Secretary Gates describes. The Joint Strike Fighter does not have an alternate fuselage, alternate avionics, or an alternate air frame. The alternate engine will not lower costs for the Joint Strike Fighter program and should be eliminated" |
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