Insanity Begins Over Base Closures

[NATO AIR]

Some significant politicians are mortally wounded here (Happy to report Thune is a dead in the water senator already, not bad for a jackass like himself), with little hope for recovery, especially with Bush and Rummy in charge. They will not budge much over the original recomendations.

It does seem like the Blue States in the NE got nailed... guess you show disloyalty to the president and the military you can't expect to keep the bases.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7809320/

Legislators scramble to reassure constituents

Proposed base closures put politicians’ promises to the test
By Mike Allen and Jonathan Weisman

Updated: 12:26 a.m. ET May 14, 2005Already locked in a tough campaign for reelection next year, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) infuriated some in the community around Naval Air Station Willow Grove last month with comments about the base that were interpreted as critical.

Yesterday, Willow Grove popped up on the Pentagon's base-closure hit list, sending Santorum's opponents on the attack and the senator into a defensive crouch. Within three hours, he was standing before television cameras outside the base, vowing to fight to preserve it.

From California to Connecticut, politicians scrambled to contain the fallout from the Pentagon's blueprint for the first round of base closings in a decade. Critics sought to hold lawmakers accountable for campaign promises they had made to constituents, while lawmakers boarded planes to visit bases and offer reassurances that they planned to keep up the fight.

Political promises tested
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who knocked off Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle in November, had repeatedly assured voters that his sway with the administration would be at least as helpful to preserving Ellsworth Air Force Base as Daschle's seniority. Ellsworth, where 11,000 people live or work, is on a vast stretch of prairie near Rapid City and has 29 B-1B bombers, half the nation's fleet. The Pentagon wants to consolidate the planes at a base in Texas.

When Ellsworth showed up yesterday as one of the biggest bases on the list, Thune took a chartered plane from his home in Sioux Falls and flew to Rapid City to say that he would pursue legislation to slow the process, would seek a regional base-closing hearing in the state and would insist that uniformed troops be allowed to testify. At a news conference carried live on four South Dakota stations, the first question was about last year's campaign.

"Folks can replay the past," Thune said. "We're focused on the future."

But several Republican officials in Washington were privately shocked by the decision and said they thought the administration owed Thune something after he had run twice for the seat — the first time at President Bush's personal request — and then knocked off the Democratic leader. Administration officials said that because Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Bush appointees signed off on the list, an element of politics was unavoidable.
Continue Article @ Link

 

[JayW]

I know we'll be fighting like hell here in Connecticut to keep the Groton sub base open...

 

[insein]

The willow grove air base has been here for 62 years. Ive passed it quite often and live within 5 minutes of it. With that said, im not sure what usefulness it provides in the community. ITs in the middle of no where respectively. Its a plot of land with no other commercial or residential buildings within 5 miles of it. It does hold close to 7000 jobs according to local papers, but im not sure exactly what it does here for the community. Me personally will not be affected by its disappearence but im sure its a sore spot for some around here.

 

[Yurt]

The willow grove air base has been here for 62 years. Ive passed it quite often and live within 5 minutes of it. With that said, im not sure what usefulness it provides in the community. ITs in the middle of no where respectively. Its a plot of land with no other commercial or residential buildings within 5 miles of it. It does hold close to 7000 jobs according to local papers, but im not sure exactly what it does here for the community. Me personally will not be affected by its disappearence but im sure its a sore spot for some around here.

You will not "personally" be affected by it?

 

[JayW]

You will not "personally" be affected by it?

:rotflmao:

 

[insein]

You will not "personally" be affected by it?

did i miss something? i dont get it.