Jesse Jackson; the pointless point
I just knew that reading a Jesse Jackson opinion piece in the Washington Times would be good for a chuckle as soon as I saw the heading. The fathead never fails to disappoint.
At issue is the competitive bid for the Air Force’s new refueling tanker between US company Boeing and British BAE. Jackson is rightly outraged that the Department of Defense may end up awarding the bid to BAE based on the bidding process – effectively sending jobs to Europe that we need right here in this country. Although BAE has said they’ll subcontract work to American Northrup Gruman, it’s also pretty clear most of the jobs will go to Europeans. But Jackson takes aim and shoots himself in the foot in the last sentences (emphasis mine);
No one disputes that DoD should always promote vigorous competition for military contracts. In fact, Congress did the right thing several years ago by stripping Boeing of a no-bid contract award for replacement tanker aircraft. But at a time when the U.S. economy is facing a recession, when cities are crumbling and workers are hurting, the idea of not rewarding foreign companies who cheat international trade laws to undermine our labor market should be a no-brainer.
Congress should step in immediately to revitalize our economy with domestic investment and good-paying jobs for U.S. workers and require this foreign manufacturer to abide by the rules.
So it was fine that Congress stopped all of those jobs and money were to go to Americans during the Bush economy, but since that money might provide jobs under a Democrat economy, Congress had better act to keep those jobs here now. If Jackson were any more transparent, he’d have to get a real job. I guess we know how he spotted that “no-brainer”.
For some reason I don’t think who’s economy it is really matters at this point. I read the whole column and what matters is that Boeing’s tanker will employ people, thousands of people, no matter who is President. And to dismiss the larger point of the piece due to the time it appears in the election cycle and its author is wrong and a red herring.
OK, but did you notice that Jackson thinks it was fine that Boeing was prevented from winning a no-bid contract on the same project a scant few years ago – but essentially that he supports what is, in effect, a no-bid contract for Boeing now?
At no point did I say BAE should get the contract – in fact Boeing should have had it all along. We should NEVER contract defense work out of the country, just like we shouldn’t ferry our various government officials around in taxpayer funded Lexus.
What is at odds is Jackson’s timing. And his vacuous reasoning. And I resent being called a red herring…I think.