Exclusive: U.S. sees lifetime cost of F-35 fighter at $1.45 trillion (click here)
An F-35 Lightning II over Florida's Eglin Air Force Base.
...In that one-page summary, (click here) GAO states the F-35 program now projects “costs of $395.7 billion, an increase of $117.2 billion (42 percent) from the prior 2007 baseline.” The much more complete story is in this table from the report:...
If Republicans are having a difficult time finding cuts in budgets to pay for Sandy Relief Aid, they can look to the overruns of the F-35 for cuts. The costs of the F-35 are never ending. It is time to get real about this plane. The F-35 is one of those Black Hole military projects that need severe review at this point. The production plant for the F-35 is in Fort Worth, Texas.
Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho said “We have these emergencies every year and we should prepare for that in our budget.” That’s reasonable, but rich. In Sept. 2011, Senate Democrats approved $6.9 billion to refill the disaster emergency fund and House Republicans cut that amount by nearly half. Not yet satisfied, they demanded $1 billion in offsetting cuts from a loan program to develop energy-efficient automobiles.
An F-35 Lightning II over Florida's Eglin Air Force Base.
...In that one-page summary, (click here) GAO states the F-35 program now projects “costs of $395.7 billion, an increase of $117.2 billion (42 percent) from the prior 2007 baseline.” The much more complete story is in this table from the report:...
If Republicans are having a difficult time finding cuts in budgets to pay for Sandy Relief Aid, they can look to the overruns of the F-35 for cuts. The costs of the F-35 are never ending. It is time to get real about this plane. The F-35 is one of those Black Hole military projects that need severe review at this point. The production plant for the F-35 is in Fort Worth, Texas.
...The White House has requested $60 billion in federal disaster relief (click here) to repair the damage caused by Sandy, but Republicans have balked. Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey called disaster relief “wasteful spending.” And four other right-wing Republicans told The Hill that they would demand cuts in other programs to offset the expense.
Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho said “We have these emergencies every year and we should prepare for that in our budget.” That’s reasonable, but rich. In Sept. 2011, Senate Democrats approved $6.9 billion to refill the disaster emergency fund and House Republicans cut that amount by nearly half. Not yet satisfied, they demanded $1 billion in offsetting cuts from a loan program to develop energy-efficient automobiles.
Only in the labyrinth of the right would it make sense to cut a long-term program to deal with the fact of climate change and its impact on the environment to pay for storm-related devastation that is one of the effects of global warming....
Oh, Canada, Oh, Canada...
Oh, Canada, Oh, Canada...
By Rob Gillies - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 12, 2012 18:20:07 EST
Posted : Wednesday Dec 12, 2012 18:20:07 EST
TORONTO — Canada is considering buying fighter jets other than U.S.-made F-35s (click here) because of escalating costs associated with Lockheed Martin’s troubled Joint Strike Fighter program, the country’s defense minister said Wednesday.
Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the government needs to ensure a balance between military and taxpayer interests.
MacKay said Canada needs to have all viable options on the table to replace the current fleet of 1980s-vintage CF-18s, which the government says will reach the end of their projected service life around 2020....
