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Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ready or not... here change comesThere’s no agreement on the exact schedule.
What is certain -- whether it happens today or early next week -- is that the defense industry will soon see the first
“change” salvo from Secretary Gates and the Obama Administration. Although the Obama Administration
has sought to calm the collective nerves of the industry by asserting that the real changes to major defense acquisition
programs (MDAPs) will come nearly a year from now, post-QDR, in the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) budget request, there’s
significant evidence, and clearly substantial angst that the Secretary’s pending announcement will draw serious blood.
And the timing of the announcement – about a month before President Obama plans to submit the details of its
FY10 request and just as the Congress is leaving town for a two-week break -- suggests to some that the Administration may
be winding up for a haymaker that provides the President himself some political distance from decisions that are sure to evoke
strong Congressional rebukes. While a “cone of silence” has descended upon the Pentagon and
details are exceedingly sparse, among the MDAPs that are said to be in the crosshairs of a new Program Decision Memorandum,
or something of its ilk, include: the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS); the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting
Vehicle (EFV); the Air Force’s F-22 fighter, AirBorne Laser and Combat Search and Rescue helicopter (CSAR-X); the Navy’s
DD-1000 destroyer, and VH-71 Presidential helicopter; and the Missile Defense Agency’s Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) and Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS).
The next month should be interesting.
link
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Well, at least he has a reason....Those who have dealt with him know that House Defense Appropriations
Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) doesn't mince words, but his recent comments to the press regarding
his penchant for earmarking for his Johnstown district (estimated in excess of $100 million/year) are particularly blunt and unapologetic, even for this former Marine. Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the 75 year-old Mr. Murtha explains that, if he's indeed
a crook, he's got a solid excuse for it. Said the House veteran of 35 years: "If I'm
corrupt, it's because I take care of my district. My job as a member of Congress is to make sure that we take care
of what we see is necessary. Not the bureaucrats who are unelected over there in whatever White House, whether it's
Republican or Democrat. Those bureaucrats would like to control everything. Every president would like to have all the
power and not have Congress change anything. But we're closest to the people." Here's thinking
that the framers' "checks and balances" argument has been more persuasively advanced in the past...
perhaps even by Chairman Murtha.
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