Defense Cuts Would Cripple Va. Economy, Leaders Warn
CHESAPEAKE If Congress doesn’t stop $1 trillion in automatic budget reductions set to begin unrolling in January, Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia will see such dramatic cutbacks that a statewide recession is likely, a public policy expert warned Monday night. Professor Stephen Fuller of George Mason University told more than 500 people at a congressional listening session that the deep cuts, including about $500 billion in defense cuts, would be “devastating,” given that
Earmarks Still Have Friends in High Places
A provision for a uranium-enrichment plant in Ohio keeps cropping up all over Capitol Hill: $150 million in the Senate’s highway bill, $150 million in a Senate energy bill, $100 million in that bill’s House counterpart. There’s even talk of putting it in a final House-Senate transportation bill. Weren’t grants like this — earmarks by another name — supposed to be banished by Republicans in Congress? Yes. And for most lawmakers, they are. But the earmark has the top two Republ
Air Force Sets Standards for New Tanker Base
The Air Force released the criteria today for deciding which of its bases will get the first new air refueling tankers, and Fairchild will be among about 60 bases being considered. That means the Air Force won’t limit those first KC-46As to a base that already serves as a current home for tankers, but will look at most facilities in the continental United States. The main criteria for making this first list for consideration? “A runway,” a spokeswoman for the officer of the S
The Downfall of a Statesman
Six-term Sen. Dick Lugar lost Indiana’s GOP primary Tuesday night. The former Foreign Relations chairman’s defeat was not unexpected — a lackluster campaign and residency problems ultimately doomed the 80-year-old. Dick Lugar spent almost his entire Senate career trying to make the world safer from the specter of nuclear war. But as it turned out on Tuesday night, Indiana Republicans weren’t motivated to vote for the longtime statesman’s foreign policy bona fides, and he lost
Lugar’s Goodbye
An epic good-bye letter, passed along by NBC’s Libby Leist, from Sen. Richard Lugar, dissecting everything he sees that’s wrong with Washington and both parties: Prepared Statement of Senator Richard G. Lugar on the Concluded Indiana Senate Primary May 8, 2012 I would like to comment on the Senate race just concluded and the direction of American politics and the Republican Party. I would reiterate from my earlier statement that I have no regrets about choosing to run for off
Rep. Wolf Tries to Stop Flock of Colleagues Going Through Lobbying Revolving Door
Former elected officials lobbying for foreign dictators may be big business in DC, but one Member of Congress is trying to slow down the revolving door between the Hill and lobbying shops that work on behalf of interests outside the U.S. Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) recently introduced the Foreign Lobbying Reform Act (H.R. 4343), which would prohibit high-ranking government officials like the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, and ambassadors from lobbying on
Robert Bennett: It’s Time to Reinstate Earmarks
The biggest piece of legislation to come before the Congress this session is the transportation bill, dealing with infrastructure spending throughout the nation. The issue is a serious one — many of our bridges and highways are well past their design age and need repair or replacement — but Congress has repeatedly pushed it off, passing temporary extensions of old authorizations rather than tackle the challenge of crafting new ones. Both houses have acted, but the differences
Travis Opens Fuel Site
5/4/2012 – TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — Col. Dwight Sones, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander, was joined by Army Col. Bill Keyes, Defense Logistics Agency Energy Americas commander, and Jim Kehlet, Kinder-Morgan Business Development West vice president, to cut the ribbon on the new Kinder-Morgan fuel tank site Tuesday on Travis. The $50 million project allows Jet Propellant 8 to be stored directly on base. The JP-8 will now be piped in and stored in three tanks located on b
