That is one monumentally huge plate of stupid you dished up there, bigger than I've seen in weeks. You probably need something to wash it down.
The mods won't let me tell you what's in the cup (trust me I tried). Just drink up.
Posted on 04/06/2009 10:52:31 AM PDT by jazusamo
In a blow to Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon has decided to purchase to end funding of the F-22 fighter jet.
The decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates will rouse widespread opposition in Congress and is likely to bog down the 2010 budget approval process, with F-22 supporters maneuvering to secure more money.
The Pentagon will fund four of the radar-evading stealth fighters in the upcoming 2009 emergency war-spending request, but those additional aircraft will do little to keep the production line in Marietta, Ga., open beyond 2011. Lockheed Martin is the main contractor for the F-22, each of which costs about $140 million.
Gates announced the decision at a press conference on the Defense budget on Monday afternoon.
No money will be requested in the fiscal 2010 budget, congressional and industry sources familiar with the budget briefings told The Hill. Gates has been making calls to the chairmen of the congressional defense committees.
The final F-22 of the 183 currently on order will be delivered at the end of 2011. Building another four would keep the line open for only a few months beyond that end date.
Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors, including Boeing, in recent weeks have stepped up their campaign to keep the production line open. They argue that 25,000 people work directly for the 1,000 suppliers of the F-22 in 44 states, and another 70,000 indirectly owe their jobs to this program.
Look at it this way: we are giving two F22's in bonuses to the diseased criminals from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and nobody in Washington so much as lifts an eyelid. 140 million in a 3.5 trillion dollar budget is nothing. Buy 100 more, it still is nothing.
How about we cut funding for AF 1 right now so the Bastard can’t come back? A pipe dream I know.
Meanwhile, our kids fly airplanes older than they are with much more fatigue life on them than ever intended. We have flown the crap out of our airplanes defending the world from our friends the islamists and their fuzzy bunnies.
ZERO and his lap dogs need to be taken for a ride or a long snipe hunt.
If it were possible to detest this administration and bunch of thug hacks any more I don’t see how it is possible.
How about cancelling congress and their fat pensions, health care and perks?
I know it is a foolish thought but being without this government would be better than what we have.
We have the government that special interest paid for and our tax dollars have bribed votes with.
Here is the first part of the offical bio from the defense dept website:
"Dr. Robert M. Gates was sworn in on December 18, 2006, as the 22nd Secretary of Defense. Before entering his present post, Secretary Gates was the President of Texas A&M University, the nation's seventh largest university. Prior to assuming the presidency of Texas A&M on August 1, 2002, he served as Interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999 to 2001."
Not exactly good "go-to-the-wall credentials: ivory towers inhabited largely by academic weasels.
No wonder Obama kept him on.
Good point and it probably had a lot to do with it. You'd think his association and then director of CIA would have given him more foresight than this.
Dude give it up. You can’t be that dumb. The F-22 has far greater use than a fighter to fighter platform. It is the best jet fighter in the world but, just as the F-117 was used to knock out command & control facilities, infrastructure, AAA assets, and other high value targets in GW1 the F-22 will fill the same role.
That is one monumentally huge plate of stupid you dished up there, bigger than I've seen in weeks. You probably need something to wash it down.
The mods won't let me tell you what's in the cup (trust me I tried). Just drink up.
Spooky is a bone the Zoomies threw the Army, due to the Key West Agreement. You will notice that Air Force close air support is shoved off to the fringes, with the AC-130 as part of fringe Special Ops squadrons.
You can always tell what the Air Force mind thinks of some war toy by it's place in the TO. JSTARS is right in the middle, Spooky is out in left field. Ask the Army if they would prefer Air Force support, or Marine.
The Key West agreement is a wonderful thing. Look it up. It explains a lot about why the Pentagon does what it does.
Yep, the fewer you make the more R&D and production set-up costs have to be applied to each aircraft.
The notion of $6,000,000,000 fails to scare me anymore.
Several failed simulations and how many trillions later I think building carriers might be a good use of funds considering the current practices.
Bringing carrier building to Montana anyone?
The 747/400 starts at $216 million, per http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/74633.
Good heavens, if a 747/400 starts at $216 million, then a Raptor at $140 million, considering what it can do, almost seems like a bargain!
So they can be deployed against Obama's relatives? Never in a million years would the messiah allow that.
Obama definitely wants the Islamic world to become more powerful. Maybe that's why he's trying to destabilize Pakistan.
I bet the terrorists there know where the air strikes are going to occur and use them as a rallying point to overthrow the government.
I know, it sounds so conspiratorial, but with our paperless president, the incompetent Communist, I think anything is possible anymore.
And one trillion for the IMF, but we can't afford F22s nor fully fund missile defense.
Late last year Aviation Week and Space Technology had an item about the FAA allowing inspection of aircraft parts in Mexico, before they were shipped to the US. This cuts out the back and forth costs of time and money.
We know that many mfg. firms are moving across the border to escape the litigation, regulation and the unions that run the Democrats, and run the businesses out of the country. Now their move to another country is all for the better.
Mexico is welcoming them.
I’ve been saying that Obama’s plan to stop illegal immigration is to drive our economy south, in a couple of ways. Sadly, it’s driving our defense abilities south as well.
No, his plan is amnesty so that Dems (or worse) will have permanent control of all 3 branches of govt. Makes one wonder why Bush and McCain also pushed for amnesty.
Crap! Nice disinformation try!
The F-22 just wasn’t was many times more than the plane it was cracked up to be
R&D costs for the development and fly off the YF22 and YF23 were originally to be spread over 760 aircraft. The current unit price reflects this amount spread over 1/5 of the planned production. If they had made the order for 300 aircraft they could have gotten 300 for the money already spent. Congress wouldn’t fund full production. I visited the assembly line in 1992 in Marietta Georgia.( before it was moved to Texas) It was sitting idle then. 17 years or 1 plane a month of production from an automated assembly process that could have made 1 plane every 3 days. And they are also killing the ABL - Laser boost interception... Gates - you’re selling out the future defense of our country.
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