MILITARY

McCain’s Boeing Battle Boomerangs

By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK

From the magazine issue dated Jun 30, 2008

« Return to Article

Discuss

Posted By: lenteach @ 10/06/2008 7:17:59 PM

Comment: McCain is not a war hero but a war criminal who participated in an illegal,immoral war.He bombed a nation that WAS NO THREAT TO aMERICA AND LBJ SHOULD HAVE BEEN IMPEACHED, AT THE VERY LEAST. McCAIN BOMBED CIVILIANS WHO DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE AMERICA WAS. BUT VIETNAMESE HAD BEEN FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE A LONG TIME AND AMERICAN IMPERIALISM WAS THEIR LAST ENEMY.

McCAIN DID EXACTLY THE SAME THING FOR CHAS. kEATING HE OBJECTED TO
WHEN THE BOEING CFO AND AIR FORCE OFFICER WERE CORRUPTING EACH OTHER OVER THE REFUELING CONTRACTS. McCAIN SHOULD HAVE RESIGNED AND STOOD TRIAL FOR CORRUPTION.THIS IS EXACTLY WHY AMERICA IS IMPLODING-
CORRUPT WARS, FROM VIETNAM TO IRAQ, TO CORRUPT SENATORS WHO CAN SELL OUT AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND THEN RUN FOR PRESIDENT SO HE CAN START ANOTHER CORRUPT,ILLEGAL WAR.
Posted By: katharine9 @ 08/20/2008 11:28:41 PM

Comment: You think McCain works for the American people? He works for his lobbyist cronies, as he did in the Keating 5 and ever since. He has no clue how ordinary people live since he has 5 multimillion dollar homes and is married to a multimillionaire. He hasnasty sense of humor and a mean streak. A profile of a bully. McCain is a war hero because he was tortured, but he does not have the character to be President
Posted By: ArvinS @ 06/28/2008 3:50:01 PM

Comment: Come tell the truth, McCain was not against Boeing winning the contract. What he was against was the idea of leasing the tankers and then down the road buying them. If you are going to tell a story then at least tell the whole story and not just what slants it the way you want it to look!!
Posted By: ArvinS @ 06/28/2008 3:47:52 PM

Comment: Why is it you don't tell the whole story. What McCain objected to was the USAF leasing the tankers and therefore spending more money in the acquisition of them. I don't remember him objecting to Boeing selling the tankers to the USAF. It was about how it was done. So, we see that there is difference from the complete story and telling only what you want to tell. Let's redo the story and tell it properly!
Posted By: jlmeal @ 06/27/2008 11:27:43 PM

Comment: JOHN McCAIN???S 3R ECONOMIC PLAN 2008
Abbreviated version

Progressive Republican Candidate John McCain comes through for America with his 3R economic plan. In the persona of Theodore Roosevelt, McCain???s plan just makes sense.

1. RETHINK: America must see globally on what America is capable of in our current state of technology, engineering and meet the demands that face the world.

Private Sector framework is in place and current laws allow the 3R to happen. The Progressive attitude of John McCain to get things done by crossing party lines will resurrect America.

2. REFORM: The American people must demand higher quality products and less restricted trade routes for Made in USA components. We will lead the way of MFG again!

The USA will reform its dead manufacturing base

3. REINVENT: America and Americans must reinvent themselves to reach and maintain these standards and by sheer American ingenuity, control the world???s marketplace in the competitive manner, as the USA has always been proud to be #1.

NUTS AND BOLTS of the plan are simple.

Billions of savings equates to millions of lost tax revenue from energy companies. The US needs a separate tax revenue source before we can move away from fossil fuels.

McCain 3R solution.

McCain???s 3R is about technical, closely monitored and rapid hands on training from pros to create new pros. Thousands of currently-job-displaced ???once leaders in the manufacturing arena??? will be asked to train and play instructor rolls in the 3R plan. Paid, of course, as these new leaders will help create a whole new style of prosperous America. A massive restructure providing thousands New American MFG means millions of new jobs for infrastructure alone.

New jobs is the mainstay for Creating a new guard for Social Security.

This is the new place for financial speculators to invest!

McCain???s Progressive nature embodies Theodore Roosevelt more than any US presidential candidate in history since the original Rough Rider blazed the greatest era of growth in America.

We need John McCain to lead our nation with the same type of change.
Posted By: jmin08 @ 06/27/2008 10:42:12 AM

Comment: Once again Newsweek shows its liberal bias. I actually used to enjoy the magazine but cancelled my subscription when it bacame nothing more than a left wing loudspeeker--and a lousy one at that!
Posted By: dyast1 @ 06/27/2008 9:28:02 AM

Comment: As you attempt to discern between the presidential candidates ???Old Guard??? and ???Fantasy Island??? and their various employed strategy teams you lose track of where we really are in this country. My choice for President is now based on who can do the least damage to this country over the next four years? Reflecting on our younger generation who shall bear the brunt of what we leave them as my generation steps down from power and leaves them a world that has stage three cancer.
Our government strongly believes that the American population cannot think for themselves, the political view is telling them anything and they will forget within six months. Example is our Social Security system. Started going down hill once Congress started playing with the funds, next step was they withdrew from SS and created their own fund. They knew what was going too happened once corruption ran amuck within our government. Now SS is going broke, and the American people will have to make do with what they can save during their working careers.
This country is still great and I wish the politicians would stop trying to ruin it and start to deal with our problems without thinking of what is in it for them every time. When one of us uneducated inexperienced old tired person asks a question, please answer it with intelligence or at the very least research the question and get back to us with facts and bullet format recommendations as to the answer. Time to end my rambling and get back to work
Posted By: dyast1 @ 06/27/2008 9:27:22 AM

Comment: As you attempt to discern between the presidential candidates ???Old Guard??? and ???Fantasy Island??? and their various employed strategy teams you lose track of where we really are in this country. My choice for President is now based on who can do the least damage to this country over the next four years? Reflecting on our younger generation who shall bear the brunt of what we leave them as my generation steps down from power and leaves them a world that has stage three cancer.
Our government strongly believes that the American population cannot think for themselves, the political view is telling them anything and they will forget within six months. Example is our Social Security system. Started going down hill once Congress started playing with the funds, next step was they withdrew from SS and created their own fund. They knew what was going too happened once corruption ran amuck within our government. Now SS is going broke, and the American people will have to make do with what they can save during their working careers.
This country is still great and I wish the politicians would stop trying to ruin it and start to deal with our problems without thinking of what is in it for them every time. When one of us uneducated inexperienced old tired person asks a question, please answer it with intelligence or at the very least research the question and get back to us with facts and bullet format recommendations as to the answer. Time to end my rambling and get back to work
Posted By: abbeylincoln @ 06/26/2008 10:58:30 AM

Comment: God help Americans, but this is exactly the kind of policies to expect from a McCain government - if elected. This reveals another instance of economically-daft politicians shooting the American public in the foot with ill-advised positions. I think the Newsweek organisation owes it to its esteemed readers in the US and internationally to vividly and urgently publish news of this magnitude.
Posted By: rif2422 @ 06/26/2008 1:50:44 AM

Comment: My only gripe is that Airbus is heavily subsidized by the E.U. a total unfair advantage, we shouldn't give them a penny until Airbus stands on its own feet without subsidation by the E.U. We're just keeping an unprofitable venture in the air and making them stronger, that's the reason they're able to save money over the U.S. company.
Posted By: rif2422 @ 06/26/2008 1:45:48 AM

Comment: I worked as a sub contractor on this project, I was told the problem was that Boeing didn't meet the requirements as well as Airbus did, however the requirements by the Air Force were vague at best.
Posted By: brucebessell @ 06/25/2008 11:44:36 AM

Comment: I am a certificated Aircraft Mechanic, and have worked on both Boeing and Airbus. My experience is that Airbus builds "Throw Aways," while Boeing is still building quality aircraft. Airbus has no tolerance for corrosion, having milled away all metal in excess of the engineered minimum. This minimum standard requires replacement of any structural part that corrodes even the slightest, and corrosion is inevitable. And, the wait of several months for repair parts to come from France would sabotage our supply system and therefore our war efforts. Boeing still uses enough metal that corrosion can be removed, surfaces re-treated and the part is remains serviceable.
Posted By: Trooper101st @ 06/25/2008 8:35:53 AM

Comment: Sounds like more of the same gov. we been dealing with the last 8 years. Why award this contract to Europeans? Mc Cain is doing wat the REPUKES do best, outsource jobs. Wat a shame for Boeing.
Posted By: bissron @ 06/24/2008 4:37:16 PM

Comment: Wait. You're saying McCain lobbied for sending US dollars overseas to a company hired by his closest associates.
Why isn't this headline news?
- Posted By: JustAJoe @ 06/26/2008 4:45:27 AM
  
  Comment: Because it happens every day. Remember the definition of a honest politician is one that stays bought.
  If you are looking for uncovered stories, how about the candidate for "change", Obama, is the product of the second generation mayor-for-life Chicago Daley political machine. One of the few and most corrupt left.
Posted By: jdtseattlewa @ 06/23/2008 4:37:04 PM

Comment: Registered lobbyists for EAD's...where was the press on this one? I would've thought that would have been picked up at the time,must have been public knowledge. By the time Congress and the executive wakes up this country will have lost all means of defending it's interests abroad.
Posted By: wyomingite @ 06/23/2008 2:10:15 PM

Comment:
What would the anonimous emails look like if McCain were a Democrat?: "Dem candidate stymies American (Boeing) bid while lobbying for French aircraft company." But, he is a Republican, and this story will not show up on television or through the crafty Republican anonimous email group. I guess we will just pass this off as some "pinko liberal news magazine's" biased reporting.
Posted By: Houlbelat @ 06/23/2008 12:22:47 PM

Comment: This proves McCain is a clean man and wants to ensure value for the tax payer's money.
- Posted By: Rolo1 @ 06/23/2008 3:29:49 PM
  
  Comment: YEa.Right I'am sure thats what this is all about !
Posted By: Wbaere @ 06/22/2008 7:22:57 PM

Comment: Lots of you are here bashing McCain, but what I see is a guy still working at his current job, and trying to get something done. Now Obama put forth an idea regarding limiting commodoties speculation in an effort to reduce the price of oil/gasoline--why not do your job now and introduce legislation to that effect? Talk is cheap--when are we going to see some work done in D.C.?
Posted By: Nins @ 06/22/2008 6:56:21 PM

Comment: Some of you who read my posts about investment banks driving up the price of oil through commodities futures trading did not believe me that this was a real issue, despite the fact that the Senate is investigating it. Well, it really is an issue and an important one, so important the the Department of Justice is going to investigate.

Today Senator Obama announced a plan today to crack down on excessive energy speculation and fully close the loophole in the CFTC regulations that I referred to in my blog. This loophole is also called the "Enron Loophole" because it was created by McCain Campaign co-chair Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron lobbyists, and exempts most trading on energy commodities from regulation. As a result, the CFTC is unable to oversee the oil futures market or investigate cases where excessive speculation is driving up oil prices. Just last month, John Hofmesiter, President of Shell Oil Company, says that the proper, uninflated production price of a barrel of crude oil is no more than $65.

http://www.financialpost.com/reports/oil-watch/story.html?id=532747

Clarence Cazalot, CEO of Marathon Oil, stated in November of 2007 that "$100 oil just isn't justified by the physical demand on the market - it is speculation on the futures market that is driving this."

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/12/markets/oil_hundred/index.htm?postversion=2007111216

Larry Chom, Chief Economist of Platt's, states in a recent Businessweek article that speculation is adding at least $50 to the price of every barrel of oil. You can read this article in the May 13, 2008 edition of Businessweek, but it is no longer available on their website unless you are a member.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/may2008/

To see what Senator Obama is doing to correct this serious problem and lower the price of gas and oil, go to his website:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gG5Rzb

Now THAT is my kind of President! Sees the problem, and moves to fix it, while Bush and McCain are sitting on their hands.
- Posted By: J.Richter @ 06/23/2008 11:07:43 AM
  
  Comment: Thanks for this well researched article. Would you consider this group - http://army4truth.newsvine.com - where really smart folks are looking to ensure that deceptive and distorted positions do not hold sway in our country's decisions this year.
Posted By: mawrm @ 06/22/2008 6:03:21 PM

Comment: I'm about as strong an Obama supporter and a Boeing fanatic as any but I'm also an areospace engineer and I must say that McCain's objections to the Boeing lease deal for the tanker replacement were technically valid. I had no knowledge about EADS lobbyists on his staff however but this should not subtract from the core reason why the Boeing bid was rightly rejected in the first place. The fact is the Boeing lease deal of B767s would have been a supreme waste of money and Boeing arrogantly inflated their bid believing they would win automatically since they're the only US widebody aircraft maker left. The B767 is at the end of production, which means the AF would in the long term have to pay more to maintain a gradually obsolete airframe - exactly the problem they're faced with now on the B-707 derived airframe - when was the last time you flew a Boeing 707 domestically? The whole years-long dragged out of the process has now allowed Boeing to catch up and then now claim that they could have offered the 777 instead had they known better. That's a bunch of bunk because the reasonings Boeing publicly used against Airbus were they claimed the Airbus offering was too large, required more apron than the B767 and that they were ahead on R&D since the Japanese and Italians had put in orders for B767-based tankers. Fact is, Boeing could not have offered the B777 likely in the form of the B777-200F series that is convertible for the tanker mission earlier as it is only NOW being delivered to commercial customers. Then there's the R&D to make the tanker modifications.
While I'm all for America first, I'm not for the American taxpayer being reamed by greedy aerospace companies (yes, I work in the industry and know the corporate attitude all too well). Consider also that Europeans make substantial buys of US aerospace hardware and if they adopt our attitude, we would be hurting for billions more and more jobs than what they stand to lose in not getting this tanker deal.
- Posted By: flyer @ 06/25/2008 12:41:12 AM
  
  Comment: Well, it's nice to see not all Democrats are Dumbocrats. As a fellow aerospace engineer, I was shocked when the A330 was selected since the 767 seemed a much closer match to what the Air Force supposedly wanted. Nevertheless, trying to contort the decision into a some kind of twisted indictment of McCain is so far a stretch it would tie a yoga instructor in knots. You can make a valid argument for either plane, and the Air Force's chief failure was failing to do so competently.
  
  At least mawrm gives me hope that not all Obama supporters are rabid lunatics--just most of them.
Posted By: JustAJoe @ 06/22/2008 3:43:16 PM

Comment: "This shows how a sort of naive crusade for good government can actually backfire," said Loren Thompson

There is nothing naive about this. It's plain, old fashioned political corruption. Since he sent some Boeing and Pentagon officials to prison for "cozy relationship, I am sure McCain will be turning himself in any day now.
- Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:17:30 PM
  
  Comment: I agree. While engaging in corruption of his own, McCain happened to find corruption by others. Big surprise there. It's how Washington works - and will continue to work under a McCain presidency.
  
  Lucky for us that won't happen.
Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 1:58:07 PM

Comment: Anyone else notice that the same people who were crying and complaining about no-bid contracts for Iraqi oil are now deriding MCCain for trying to fight against No bid contracts right here at home.

The sweet smell of hypocrisy a Change we can believe in.
- Posted By: the-commish @ 06/22/2008 7:03:12 PM
  
  Comment: Onepoker,
  
  I am surprised at you! Outsourcing our national security?
  
  Surely you can come up with something better than that!
- Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:20:40 PM
  
  Comment: Anyone notice how Republican's love to twist the facts and attempt to relate two unrelatable issues?
  
  The sweet smell of the spin - and politics as usual - courtesy of John McSame.
Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 1:56:07 PM

Comment: being new to the bloggs I was unaware that proper etiquette is to copy and paste all of your posts to every article to be sure not a soul escapes without gaining your insight even if that insight has nothing whatsoever to do with the article you are posting too
Posted By: mimigrammy @ 06/22/2008 1:42:46 PM

Comment: The McCain Campaign calling the recent "opt-out" campaign finance issue a "big deal" is nothing more than them trying to drum up noise to distract from this issue. The whole EADS issue is something that is "big" to the American electorate and goes to the heart of why Senator Obama's goal for campaign finance is to end the endless campaign for corporate dollars in the election process. McCain is now, and has all his life been, an opportunist. Using people and labels to gain power is the "real story" of John McCain's life. This is another example of him being only another George W. Bush.
Posted By: scha100 @ 06/22/2008 1:02:59 PM

Comment: Oh, please! "Good government" MY EYE! McCain is as obviously in bed with EADS as Bush is with the Saudies. He says he wants to save the government money by getting a cheaper contract, but in reality he will say or do anything to get a sweetheart deal for EADS! McCain is a well practiced LIAR and the American people should be aware of it!
Posted By: midnight05 @ 06/22/2008 12:07:32 PM

Comment: The McCain campaign is not as thick as thieves but rather thick with thieves. Every time a voter turns around, more fall out of the tree. He is wholly owned and operated by K Street and that will be one of the reasons for his downfall. If the GOP wants to win in November, they will sit on McCain and make him clean house.
Posted By: Mwalimu @ 06/22/2008 10:32:51 AM

Comment: Thank you Nims, for your insight. I must commend Isikoff for his article. It shows what sort of commander-in-chief McCain should be. Isikoff did not mention that the contract McCain enginereed will cost the tax payers much more because of the devaluation of the dollar. McCain should have realized that because Bush constantly toutes a weak dollar as an economic advantage (a way of sticking it to liberal, elitist leftists who like to travel to Europe.)
We should also realize that McCain's decision cost many Americans their jobs. But then one of McCain's chief advisors Carly Fiorina, who messed up Hewlitt-Packard during her tenure as CEO, said that a job is no longer an American right. I hope Americans realize that McCain really does not care about their jobs - only about the portfolios of his wealthy lobbyist friends.
I do wish we could have more articles on the way McCain's lobbyists friends are profiteering from the war in Iraq. McCain's chief campaign manager, Charlie Black, was a lobbyist for Ahmed Chalabi, whose lies and misinformation got us involved in the war in the first place. Chalabi later turned out to be an Iranian agent, and the big winner of the Iraqi war is Iran - simply because the Shiites we've installed in Iraq have far more in common with their fellow believers in Iran than they do with Christians in America, whom most Shiites. both in Iraq and Iran regard, as satanic infidels. Isikoff's article proves that as a commander-in-chief, McCain's incompetence is matched only by W. George Bush. In the real world military, an officer displaying Bush's or McCain's level of judgment would face a court martial. History does not need to repeat itself.
This article is an excellent reason to vote for Obama
Posted By: Nins @ 06/22/2008 2:40:08 AM

Comment: WillNotVote, I just love it when you set yourself up to be schooled. You give a web address for the Obama's page on the Senate.gov website. Each Senator sets up their own pages there. You have directed the reader to Obama's page where he prints, for the world to see, his voting record on every bill that comes before the Senate. Here is that address:

http://obama.senate.gov/votes/index.cfm?start=1

You sent the reader to this page because it shows that Obama did not vote on many of the recent bills, and you want to make it look like Obama is asleep on the job. It must be mentioned, however, that Clinton, McCain and Obama have all missed many votes during the campaign season. However, if the reader will take the trouble to page through Obama's voting record, they will see that Obama has been present for all of the important votes. Obama has been present and voted on 62 of the 154 bills before Congress in the current session beginning January 2008. Clinton has voted on 56 of these 154 bills. And McCain, who had already won the primary and didn't have to start campaigning against Obama until three weeks ago, McCain voted on only 33 of 154 bills.

As I have exposed in one of my earlier blogs, McCain missed more than half of his votes, even before he started running for President. In the First Session of the 110th Congress (2007), McCain missed a whopping 56% of his votes. McCain doesn't want you to know this, so when you go to his Senate web page, there is no tab to click to see his voting record (http://mccain.senate.gov). An American who wants to know how McCain votes has to look it up on the Library of Congress website (not user friendly) or go to the Washington Post website:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000303/votes/

While you are there, pay special attention to McCain's votes on March 13 and 14, 2008. On those days we know he was present, because he voted on 22 bills. But he refused to vote on 22 other bills. He failed to vote on bills concerning border security, alien removal and English in the workplace, even though he has set himself up as the candidate who wants immigration reform favorable to Hispanics. He also failed to vote on the bills regarding efficient energy production, even though he claims to be in favor of this. He must not be very much in favor of efficient energy and immigration reform since her refused to vote even though he was present. As for Obama and Clinton, they were both present those days, and they both voted on all 44 bills.

McCain knows that public perception is all that matters, so he gives a news conference and says he supports certain issues, even though he refuses to vote in favor of them. He knows that most Americans never take the time to look up his voting record, and he makes sure that his Senate web page doesn't include this information.

I find it ironic that your blogger name is "WillNotVote." Did you get that name from John McCain?
- Posted By: AmeriKhan Lobo @ 06/24/2008 1:12:07 AM
  
  Comment: BRAAA VO!
  
  You need to post this on all the other threads where McSame supporters try to belittle Obama's voting record. I commend your research skills.
  
  Down with Flip Flop McSame!
Posted By: flyboyras @ 06/22/2008 12:26:00 AM

Comment: Isikoff is so far off the mark on this one. He should be focusing his ire on the Air Force, not McCain. The Air Force has been fraught with mismanagement and procurement issues for years. Not only was there unethical and illegal activities by Air Force personnel in the Boeing tanker deal that sent one woman to jail and caused the firing of two top level Boeing officials, but there was also the award of the Thunderbirds audio and visual contract to a company tied to top Air Force officials -- at a bid $25 million higher than the lowest bidder! The bigger story here is that the CONTINUOUS WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS BY THE AIR FORCE, which Senator McCain has fought against for years. Thank goodness Secretary Gates was finally able to see the light and fire COS Moseley and AF Secretary Wynne. It's also no wonder that the pentagon official quotes in Isikoff's story is "anonymous" because the official knows that what he is saying about the McCain letters can't be substantiated -- it's pure speculation. His statements appear to be retaliation for years of beatings by Congress who has consistently caught the Air Force misbehaving. This pentagon official needs to show some balls and give his name like the McCain aide, Chris Paul.
Posted By: flyer @ 06/21/2008 10:04:08 PM

Comment: This article is so dishonest it's a joke! The original deal that McCain attacked was a complete ripoff, and I say this as a member of the aerospace industry who would have benefited by it. By even the most generous estimates, the Air Force agreed to pay Boeing at least twice what the tankers would have actually cost. McCain was bold enough to question the obvious cost discrepancy, and subsequent investigation discovered the Air Force official who made the deal had also arranged jobs for herself and her son at Boeing. Can you say illegal conflict of interest?! Both she and her Boeing counterpart were convicted of conspiring to award the contract to Boeing and SENT TO PRISON! Now Newsweek has the audacity to criticize McCain?! Are you so blinded by your love of Obama that you'd rather have government officials accepting bribes in exchange for wasting taxpayer money? Indeed!
- Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:11:47 PM
  
  Comment: The flaw in your logic is the assumption that the issues are mutually exclusive - the fact that corruption was found in the Boeing deal means there could not possibly ever be corruption in the Airbus deal.
  
  Did it every occur to you that in his efforts to help his Airbus buddies McCain's inquiries uncovered the Boeing corrpution? Great that its was found, but that doesn't negate his original motivation.
  
  Considering Airbus receives significant EU subsidies - I am not even sure they would be in business without them - I think it is absolutely appropriate to take those into account. It is naive to think that military spending is just about the best value. It's also about American jobs.
  
  It was highly inappropriate for McCain to make the request that he did of the Pentagon. And if McCain is as innocent as all you Republican's claim - then why not reveal the names of those "third party sources". After all, they deserve credit for saving tax payer money too. Maybe that's because you'll find out those third parties are not as altruistic as you would like to think.
  
  You Republican's need to take the blinders off and start thinking for yourselves.
  - Posted By: flyer @ 06/24/2008 12:31:51 AM
    
    Comment: The flaw in your logic is the assumption that McCain is somehow at the heart of the problem when the problem is clearly the Air Force's acquisition process. This is at least the third major Air Force contract in the last 6 years to have protests upheld by the GAO. The first was the original Boeing 767 tanker lease that sent 2 people to prison, then the combat search and rescue helicopter awarded to Boeing but challenged by Lockheed and Sikorsky, and now the Northrop/EADS tanker.
    
    The common theme is the Air Force's inability to clearly define requirements to the contractors and evaluate all bids by the same criteria.
    
    John McCain has been one of the few voices in DC questioning these deals, holding the Air Force accountable for its bad decisions, and urging reforms.
    
    Compare this to the bahavior of the infamous Sen. Patty Murray who was dancing in the streets after the corrupt tanker deal of 2002, celebrating the great "bargain" her campaign donors at Boeing had won...
    
    And a note to Newsweek--your site works terribly in Firefox. You might want to look into it!
- Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 2:01:36 PM
  
  Comment: Clap clap clap. I know its hard to hear over the Obamabots but flyer I just wanted to thank you for stating the truth.
  - Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:12:40 PM
    
    Comment: That must be the sound of one hand clapping, because the other is obviously covering your eyes.
- Posted By: jimbo3800 @ 06/21/2008 10:36:22 PM
  
  Comment: The sad answer is yes, Newsweak is so blinded by its love of Obama that it will do anything, say anything, make up anything...and I'm sure it will only get worse between now and November.
Posted By: flyer @ 06/21/2008 10:03:41 PM

Comment: This article is so dishonest it's a joke! The original deal that McCain attacked was a complete ripoff, and I say this as a member of the aerospace industry who would have benefited by it. By even the most generous estimates, the Air Force agreed to pay Boeing at least twice what the tankers would have actually cost. McCain was bold enough to question the obvious cost discrepancy, and subsequent investigation discovered the Air Force official who made the deal had also arranged jobs for herself and her son at Boeing. Can you say illegal conflict of interest?! Both she and her Boeing counterpart were convicted of conspiring to award the contract to Boeing and SENT TO PRISON! Now Newsweek has the audacity to criticize McCain?! Are you so blinded by your love of Obama that you'd rather have government officials accepting bribes in exchange for wasting taxpayer money? Dishonesty, indeed!
Posted By: info4u2 @ 06/21/2008 7:41:10 PM

Comment: Concerning Lisa Miller's April 12, 2008 article ???WHY THIS POPE DOESN'T CONNECT", one can examine
two recent surveys on YouPoll.com, "CATHOLICS, COME HOME' and "THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: How well do you know it???? These are better sources for understanding current Catholic Church questions than the ones Lisa Miller rhetorically asks; Better, because the premise or the foundation of Lisa???s inquiry either lacks authenticity or substance; Maybe both. Where did she find the people who expressed disinterest in the Pope???s American visit? Her investigative search somehow seems all too quick and the response from her sources -uninformed. In short, Lisa does not tell us, her readers, what her questions were: We only have answers. Pope Benedict XVI merits the best objective reporting.

Thank you.
Posted By: Nins @ 06/21/2008 2:53:42 PM

Comment: Readers, be informed, and beware! Sam Bodman, US Energy Secretary, is a Bush appointed Yes-man. Bodman states that insufficient production is making oil prices soar. Bush wants you to think that the OPEC countries are responsible for high oil prices, but the truth is, OPEC has been significantly increasing production over the past several months. Where is all that oil going? It's being stockpiled by US investment banks, who are creating a fake shortage to drive up the price. Congress has already started to investigate this criminal practice. Bush, who has deregulated the banking industry, tries to blame it on OPEC. By now you should be familiar with Bush's MO: he says you should be very afraid of Muslims. But who you should really be afraid of are investment bankers at Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Check this out:

Michael Masters of Master Capital Management (a global investment manager) testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs a couple of weeks ago. Quotes from his testimony:

"Today, Index Speculators are pouring billions of dollars into the commodities futures markets, speculating that commodity prices will increase. In the popular press the explanation given for rising oil prices is the increased demand from China. According to the DOE, China's demand for petroleum has increased in the last five years from 1.88 billion barrels to 2.8 billion barrels, an increase of 920 billion barrels. Over the same five year period, Index Speculators' demand for petroleum futures has increased by 848 million barrels. THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM INDEX SPECULATORS IS ALMOST EQUAL TO THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FROM CHINA. Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding EIGHT TIMES as much oil to their own stockpile as the US Government has added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years."

"The Senate has asked the question "Are Institutional Investors contributing to food and energy price inflation?" And my unequivocal answer is "YES." In this testimony I will explain that investment banks are one of, if not the primary, factors affecting commodities prices today. Clearly, there are many factors that contribute to price determination in the commodities markets; I am here to expose a fast-growing yet virtually unnoticed factor, and one that presents a problem that can be expediently corrected through legislative policy action..."

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. They're supposed to be protecting us from these kinds of abuses, but Bush allowed loopholes in the CFTC regulations that you can drive a truck through. An oil truck, that is.

Links to Masters' Senate testimony, and 2 articles:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/052008Masters.pdf
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20011.htm
http://globalresearch.ca
Posted By: TruthForward @ 06/21/2008 1:43:23 PM

Comment: This also shows where McCain gets his data from, the lobbyists.
- Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 2:04:51 PM
  
  Comment: all senators get data from lobbyists thats their job. Lobbyists are fun to demonize but the reality is they are an essential part of our government system they represent many diverse Americans and their needs. Everyone from Teachers Unions to Real Estate Agents have lobbyists there job is to make sure that the interests of the people they represent are considered when decisions are made.
  - Posted By: Nins @ 06/22/2008 6:58:40 PM
    
    Comment: Some of you who read my posts about investment banks driving up the price of oil through commodities futures trading did not believe me that this was a real issue, despite the fact that the Senate is investigating it. Well, it really is an issue and an important one, so important the the Department of Justice is going to investigate.
    
    Today Senator Obama announced a plan today to crack down on excessive energy speculation and fully close the loophole in the CFTC regulations that I referred to in my blog. This loophole is also called the "Enron Loophole" because it was created by McCain Campaign co-chair Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron lobbyists, and exempts most trading on energy commodities from regulation. As a result, the CFTC is unable to oversee the oil futures market or investigate cases where excessive speculation is driving up oil prices. Just last month, John Hofmesiter, President of Shell Oil Company, says that the proper, uninflated production price of a barrel of crude oil is no more than $65.
    
    http://www.financialpost.com/reports/oil-watch/story.html?id=532747
    
    Clarence Cazalot, CEO of Marathon Oil, stated in November of 2007 that "$100 oil just isn't justified by the physical demand on the market - it is speculation on the futures market that is driving this."
    
    http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/12/markets/oil_hundred/index.htm?postversion=2007111216
    
    Larry Chom, Chief Economist of Platt's, states in a recent Businessweek article that speculation is adding at least $50 to the price of every barrel of oil. You can read this article in the May 13, 2008 edition of Businessweek, but it is no longer available on their website unless you are a member.
    
    http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/may2008/
    
    To see what Senator Obama is doing to correct this serious problem and lower the price of gas and oil, go to his website:
    
    http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gG5Rzb
    
    Now THAT is my kind of President! Sees the problem, and moves to fix it, while Bush and McCain are sitting on their hands.
  - Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:15:28 PM
    
    Comment: I am sure the lobbyists always present a fair and impartial view of the issues. They would never exclude facts not in their favor, stretch the truth, or attempt to influence members of congress through donations or other means not directly related to the issues.
    
    And I get accused of smoking dope.

Top Story

Latest News

McCain’s Boeing Battle Boomerangs

Discuss

Posted By: lenteach @ 10/06/2008 7:17:59 PM

Posted By: katharine9 @ 08/20/2008 11:28:41 PM

Posted By: ArvinS @ 06/28/2008 3:50:01 PM

Posted By: ArvinS @ 06/28/2008 3:47:52 PM

Posted By: jlmeal @ 06/27/2008 11:27:43 PM

Posted By: jmin08 @ 06/27/2008 10:42:12 AM

Posted By: dyast1 @ 06/27/2008 9:28:02 AM

Posted By: dyast1 @ 06/27/2008 9:27:22 AM

Posted By: abbeylincoln @ 06/26/2008 10:58:30 AM

Posted By: rif2422 @ 06/26/2008 1:50:44 AM

Posted By: rif2422 @ 06/26/2008 1:45:48 AM

Posted By: brucebessell @ 06/25/2008 11:44:36 AM

Posted By: Trooper101st @ 06/25/2008 8:35:53 AM

Posted By: bissron @ 06/24/2008 4:37:16 PM

Posted By: JustAJoe @ 06/26/2008 4:45:27 AM

Posted By: jdtseattlewa @ 06/23/2008 4:37:04 PM

Posted By: wyomingite @ 06/23/2008 2:10:15 PM

Posted By: Houlbelat @ 06/23/2008 12:22:47 PM

Posted By: Rolo1 @ 06/23/2008 3:29:49 PM

Posted By: Wbaere @ 06/22/2008 7:22:57 PM

Posted By: Nins @ 06/22/2008 6:56:21 PM

Posted By: J.Richter @ 06/23/2008 11:07:43 AM

Posted By: mawrm @ 06/22/2008 6:03:21 PM

Posted By: flyer @ 06/25/2008 12:41:12 AM

Posted By: JustAJoe @ 06/22/2008 3:43:16 PM

Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:17:30 PM

Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 1:58:07 PM

Posted By: the-commish @ 06/22/2008 7:03:12 PM

Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:20:40 PM

Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 1:56:07 PM

Posted By: mimigrammy @ 06/22/2008 1:42:46 PM

Posted By: scha100 @ 06/22/2008 1:02:59 PM

Posted By: midnight05 @ 06/22/2008 12:07:32 PM

Posted By: Mwalimu @ 06/22/2008 10:32:51 AM

Posted By: Nins @ 06/22/2008 2:40:08 AM

Posted By: AmeriKhan Lobo @ 06/24/2008 1:12:07 AM

Posted By: flyboyras @ 06/22/2008 12:26:00 AM

Posted By: flyer @ 06/21/2008 10:04:08 PM

Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:11:47 PM

Posted By: flyer @ 06/24/2008 12:31:51 AM

Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 2:01:36 PM

Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:12:40 PM

Posted By: jimbo3800 @ 06/21/2008 10:36:22 PM

Posted By: flyer @ 06/21/2008 10:03:41 PM

Posted By: info4u2 @ 06/21/2008 7:41:10 PM

Posted By: Nins @ 06/21/2008 2:53:42 PM

Posted By: TruthForward @ 06/21/2008 1:43:23 PM

Posted By: onepoker @ 06/22/2008 2:04:51 PM

Posted By: Nins @ 06/22/2008 6:58:40 PM

Posted By: Zig Zag @ 06/22/2008 5:15:28 PM

Reply

Report Abuse

PROJECT GREEN

Saving the World for a Latte

CAMPAIGN 2008

Obama's 'Good Will' Hunting

Subscribe Now

Partners