Air Force to Re-Open Bidding on Tanker

clipped from www.mcclatchydc.com The Pentagon will reopen the competition for a $35 billion aerial refueling tanker contract, Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., said today after talking with Defense Department officials. Details of the "accelerated" competition were not immediately clear, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates was scheduled to hold a news conference early this afternoon. "It's better than a split buy or other options," Dicks said. "But the devil will be in the details." The announcement came three weeks after congressional auditors found the Air Force made "significant errors" in awarding the contract to Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS). Without those errors, the Government Accountability Office said Boeing would have had a "substantial" chance of wining the contract.

Those "significant errors?" Yeah, those were actually interference from lobbyists who were also working for the McCain campaign.

Mr. McCain’s top advisers, including a co-chairman of his presidential campaign, were lobbyists for EADS. And Mr. McCain had written to the Defense Department, urging it to ignore a trade dispute between the United States and Europe over whether Airbus received improper subsidies. Mr. McCain said that he was asking the Air Force only to maintain a level playing field as it considered the two bids.

Given how crooked this deal turned out to be, I think people who are considering voting for McCain are making a "significant error." It wouldn't surprise me if the rebid were designed to take heat off Baghdad Johnny.