Obama threatens veto if defense bill funds F-22s

[babylonsister]

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/obama-threatens-veto-if-defense-bill-funds-f-22s-2009-07-13.html

Obama threatens veto if defense bill funds F-22s
By Roxana Tiron
Posted: 07/13/09 02:16 PM


In an unusual move, President Obama sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee vowing to veto any defense bill that funds more Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter jets.

Obama threw down the gauntlet as the Senate took up the 2010 defense authorization bill. The firm commitment to veto any defense bill containing funding for the F-22 puts Obama in a tough position: he would veto bills written by a Democratic Congress.

The letter to Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) comes as the two senators introduced an amendment to strip $1.75 billion for seven additional F-22s from the Pentagon policy bill.

“...I will veto any bill that supports acquisition of F-22s beyond the 187 already funded by Congress,” Obama wrote on Monday. The Obama administration wants to cap the F-22 fleet at 187 aircraft.

The Senate could face a close vote on whether to strip the money from the defense authorization bill. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) won narrow support for an amendment to authorize funds for more F-22s when the Armed Services Committee marked up the bill last month. Levin and McCain opposed it at the time.

[Vidar]

1. Good for Obama.

[Phx_Dem]

2. Good. n/t

[TheCoxwain]

3. Obama will get over-riden and will have to eat crow ... No one went broke

by overestimating the power of the military contractors ...

[bvar22]

4. Hooray for President Obama.

I hope he sticks to his guns on this.

I want to see "Defense" spending cut by at least 50%.
This is a step in the right direction.

[maxsolomon]

6. 5% is more realistic

50% is what's needed.

[Cha]

5. Whoa Dude! Thank you,

President Obama~

If saxby wants it..it can't be good.

[gordianot]

7. Very expensive plane.

Approximately 350 million per plane, costs $40,000.00 per hour to fly.




I got this from True Majority today.

Dear XXX

President Obama and Senator McCain are working together to stop the F-22!

Call your Senator NOW and tell them to support both leaders by voting to end the F-22!


You won't believe it! Former rivals Barack Obama and John McCain are working together RIGHT NOW to stop wasting money on weapons we don't need.

McCain is offering an amendment to stop wasting money on the F-22 fighter jet that TrueMajority members have been fighting for years. And the President has threatened to veto the bill if those same planes are not removed.

The Senate vote could happen any minute, and nobody knows what's going to happen. Call your Senators RIGHT NOW and ask them to support Sen. McCain and President Obama by voting to end the F-22 and re-invest in things that make us truly strong.

http://www.truemajority.org/callin/special.php?district=MO&email=[e-mail]

You know the F-22 is a waste. The plane has never been flown in combat, but recent reports estimate it costs $44,000 per hour to fly, and $351 million per plane to build.1

To put it in context - building one of these planes costs as much as rebuilding and renewing 60 schools.2 Flying the plane for one hour (to fight a Cold War enemy that no longer exists) costs as much as hiring a new teacher for a year.3

[uponit7771]

8. F22 is 2 generations above the 2 tier militaries and can be shot down using short wave doplar radar

...pretty much a computer that can tell the stealth signal is a plane and not a bird.

They have to defeat that technology or make more of these expensive planes doesn't make sense

[NC_Nurse]

9. Figures that Suxby Shameless put it back in the bill. Who cares whether we

NEED them! I understand that some jobs are at stake, but probably not enough to justify the price tag.

[high density]

14. If it's the jobs, let's give 10,000 people $280k each instead

Four year $280k annuities paying out $70k per year. Gives the workers plenty of time to find another job.

[burrowowl]

10. Good on Obama!

I e-mailed my Rep. and Sens. and told them that funding the F-22 is folly!

[crickets]

11. Good! -nt

[Warm_it_up_Chris]

12. seriously?! Even his Republican Defense Secretary is

opposed to the number of fighters that Congress wants to purchase. Maybe the 2.8 BILLION dollars saved from the purchase of these interceptors, (who would be intercepting WHOSE fighters exactly?) could be used to fund real healthcare reform...

[boppers]

13. Defense Pork:

It makes for good headlines, and cutting it saves money. GObama!

[TayTay]

15. Chances are that Obama and Gates will lose on the F-22 fight

The http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/07/12/democrats_obama_disagree_on_f_22_spending/">Boston Globe had a really good article on this yesterday:

A dog fight Obama seems bound to lose

Congress backs F-22 fighter the Pentagon doesn’t want

WASHINGTON - From the economic recovery plan to healthcare reform and creating clean-energy jobs, Representative Paul Hodes has been among President Obama’s staunchest supporters in Congress.

But when it comes to the administration’s proposal to end production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet to save billions of dollars over the next decade, the New Hampshire Democrat is drawing the line: Hodes has joined other members of the president’s own party to insist the Air Force buy more of the planes despite fierce objections from the Pentagon and even the threat of a presidential veto.

Hodes’s view on the F-22, shared by other usually stalwart Obama supporters such as Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, signifies the extent to which one of the president’s priorities - paring down costly weapons systems - is at risk of flaming out on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers in both parties are scrambling to protect jobs back home.

Hodes’s district includes Nashua, where an estimated 1,400 workers at BAE Systems help build the jet’s electronic combat systems - one of many facilities in 44 states where jet components are manufactured.

“Thousands of jobs are dependent on it,’’ said Mark Bergman, Hodes’s spokesman, explaining his boss’s position.

more at the Boston Globe link

That article is also worth reading for this clearly insane quote that was included in it:

And Kennedy, perhaps the president’s biggest ally on Capitol Hill, has been a longtime advocate of the fighter plane. Late last month he used his vote on the Senate Armed Services Committee to support the F-22 funding. He also voted to finance other projects that have an economic impact in the Bay State but that the Pentagon says it doesn’t need.

He hopes that someday the Massachusetts Air National Guard will be able to replace their F-15 jets with the F-22, his office said in a statement.

And Mass needs these in case what? Maine starts acting up again? Canada can't stay inside their fishing limits? Clearly that quote was overkill and quite possibly the oddest of the year.

[damonm]

16. And McCain STILL opposes it - quoted on CNN n/t