Tanker Truths

18 Apr 2008
Boeing Political Supporters Threaten to Cut Funding for Contract
Today, the Wall Street Journal reports a handful of Boeing's political supporters gathered outside the Capitol and threatened to usurp the Air Force contracting process by cutting off funding for the Air Force aerial refueling-tanker contract because it was won by Northrop Grumman instead of Boeing.

"We're going to try to eliminate the funding," the paper quotes Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) as saying. "We're going to try to make a fight on the funding of this in the regular bill."

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) took this heavy-handed threat a step further, saying that he feels free to disregard a bidding process that even Boeing praised as fair, open and transparent while it was going on. The paper quotes Tiahrt as saying: "'We are going to fund a tanker; the question is, which one are we going to fund? I think we're going to fund the 767 being offered by Boeing."

Rep. Dicks and Tiahrt seem to forget that the contract was opened to competitive bidding only after a previous corruption scandal involving Boeing. If allowed to prevail, this highly unusual Congressional intervention would amount to nothing more than a $35 billion earmark for a company that offered an inferior product at higher cost, and complete disregard for the checks and balances that require the government to look out for taxpayer interests by picking the contractor who offers the highest value.

In response to the Boeing backers, Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker pointed out on the Senate floor, "If this decision is not overturned by GAO, any attempt to alter this decision through the appropriations process or any other legislative maneuver would be dangerously shortsighted."

In fact, the tanker contract was based entirely on the Air Force deciding that Northrop Grumman's bid was superior to Boeing's in four of five crucial evaluation criteria. And, as reported by the Journal, Boeing's campaign against the Air Force award has focused in large part on questioning the integrity of the Air Force.

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