Here is a story that should be on your radar screen even if you don't turn it into something local right away.
Friday, the Air Force chose Northrop Grumman and its partner, Airbus parent EADS, to build the next
generation of Air Force tankers under a contract worth an estimated $40
billion.
That means thousands of jobs that might have been added to the American economy won't be. As
The Seattle Times reports:
Large sections of the Northrop/EADS tanker will be built in Europe;
they will be shipped across the Atlantic for assembly at a new
widebody-jet plant to be built in Mobile, Ala., which will gain some
1,500 direct jobs.
At the Pentagon news conference, Air Force acquisitions chief Sue
Payton said categorically that the creation of jobs in the United
States was not a factor in the decision.
Payton said the only considerations were "the requirements of the
war fighter" balanced with "the best interests of the taxpayer."
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says the fight now heads to Capitol Hill.
The discussion no doubt will be framed something like this: When the economy is heading south, should the Pentagon award multibillion-dollar contracts to American companies even if they believe the project can be done cheaper and better abroad?
No doubt many in the media will play to pro-Union...
