I’m sure you’ve heard the joke about how lawmaking is like sausage — the end result is much more palatable when you don’t know how it was made. And I’m here to tell ya, as a butcher’s son, that I’d much rather get up to my elbows in tripe than cover Congressional appropriations.
Be that as it may, The Hill, a weekly newspaper that covers Congress in all its glory, has taken an interesting look http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Business/101905_pork.html at efforts to convince lawmakers to buy two — yes, two — F-15 fighters from Boeing, a $130 million move that advocates say will keep the company’s St. Louis assembly line open for a year, which will save taxpayers money in the long run.
Opponents say it’s just pork.
Key Quote, from go-to analyst Richard Aboulafia: “‘I would not confuse that with national defense, but they are working for the folks back home.’”
And speaking of Richard … his October cover letter to his clients http://www.richardaboulafia.com/shownote.asp?id=204 also covers some of this ground, discussing Congress’s Quadrennial Defense Review and the real-world impact this inside-the-Beltway exercise has on the aerospace business.
His take on it — “the current review promises nothing but bad things for our beloved industry.”
I’ll let Aboulafia explain himself on that one, but in his essay, he also asks an interesting question: “Who’s to say retired Rep. Zell Miller (D-GA) won’t morph into a huge reptilian monster and attack Chicago?”
And while you’re pondering that, here are some Words to Live By, also courtesy of the ever-quotable Aboulafia: “Remember: aircraft don’t kill people; people kill aircraft.”
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