Legislators Scramble to Reassure Constituents -WP

[Rose Siding]

Already 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.
...
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.
...
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.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/13/AR2005051301590.html

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. See, South Dakotans?

See? You who voted for Bush and Thune screwed yourselves.

To the ones who didn't my deepest sympathies for the loss fo both Daschle and Ellsworth.

As for Lil' Ricky: One more nail in the coffin of your political career, Leftover LubeBoy.

[dbeach]

2. bush pays back loyalty in the same way...

as he pays back his enemies with a stab in the back..
Four flushers of corruption= bush crime family syndicate

[The Doctor.]

3. anytime you want to distract every single Senator....

Just propose a massive shutdown of military bases.

That'll distract them.

[Rose Siding]

4. Didn't he just hand them all a bargaining chip?

Like their votes on Bolton or judges et al? How can they be so lock-step and just take it?

[central scrutinizer]

6. you nailed it

homeland security <gag> is trumped by Bushco's gettting his way on judges.

[The Doctor.]

9. I think you mean...

Didn't he give himself all the chips to hand out?

(not Bush**, Rove... of course)

[Rose Siding]

17. It would only work in *his* favor for the scant few

who waver- Snowe for example took cuts. But it's all risk for the bushies if, for example Thune were to say something like, Give me my base or I'll bail on social security.

[The Doctor.]

18. Right...

When's the Bolton vote go down?

[Erika]

5. Like I said, Texas & Florida are smiling

Bush does have his priorities and the likes of Thune gave him the power to carry them out. Since South Dakota is hurting so badly, I hope that Bush reconsiders but I think those who voted for Bush in South Dakota, if the election was honest, deserve what they get. Daschle stood up for them.

[Kelvin Mace]

7. We're being snookered

Smoke and mirrors, folks. Remember, this list must be approved by another committee and by Precious Leader as well. When the sturm und drang is done, the bases in red states will be saved, and the one's in blue states closed. The threats against red state bases is just so things look impartial. When the final list is done it will be the Democrats who get screwed and the Republicans will be able to claim they "saved" their bases from closing.

[tech3149]

8. Exactly right

The backroom deals are probably already finished. Then when the bases are cut from the list Thune and Rantorum can say before the election "see what I've done for you?"

[The Doctor.]

10. lol- yep.

I hear Hillary is going to be on the ropes for the base in Niagara Falls too.

Does anyone here doubt that this administration would sacrifice our Defenses against Canada?

(Ok... Borders are important after all...)

[Erika]

11. What about the Texans and Floridians who already won?

What fight will there be?

[AndyTiedye]

14. The Closure of the Bath Naval Shipyard in Maine...

...is specifically aimed at Senators Snowe and Collins, who are
high on the list of possible Republican defectors.
It's another one of those Bush** trifectas: 2 wavering Senators,
and a blue state to boot.

That base has to be the largest employer in the state.
Its loss would be devastating.

Most likely he will extract their cooperation on the nuke option
and Bolton and all the judges, in exchange for a promise to keep
Bath open.

Then after the votes he'll close it anyway.

[MaineDem]

16. Bath hasn't been targeted...yet

It's Kittery that's closing.

Bath is a private firm. Granted, they just shut down their third shift but there was talk yesterday of a two-destroyer deal for them.

[AndyTiedye]

20. Sounds Like Snowe and Collins have Caved In Already

and this is their reward.

[Erika]

12. Joe Lieberman became Bush lite

and backed Bush on everything. This is how Bush is going to repay him?

[Mountainman]

13. When people hurt enough they will vote for a change.

[AndyTiedye]

15. WE DID LAST YEAR! WE GOT ROBBED AGAIN!

[natrat]

19. what a load of shit

santorum douche fights for the good people and the base will be saved-everything has been predetermined for maximum fascist political objective

[Solly Mack]

21. Yeah. That's pretty much how I see some of the potential closings

as well.

Some will remain open because so and so "fought for the people"....looks real good during elections.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. LAT: The Next Salvo in the Battle Over Base Closures Is Political

The Next Salvo in the Battle Over Base Closures Is Political
By Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — Even though the list of recommended military base closings was presented Friday as being free of politics, it quickly had plenty of political ramifications.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) found himself on the defensive, trying to explain how an Air Force base in his state ended up on the list. After all, in his successful campaign last year to oust then-Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, Thune told voters that his ties to the White House would help safeguard the base, South Dakota's second-biggest employer.

The list also promised to add to the political headaches of Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.). Already facing a tough race for reelection, he found a submarine base in his district targeted for closure. Military installations often are economic engines for communities, and a lawmaker's ability to prevent one from closing can become a campaign issue. Within hours of the Pentagon announcement Friday, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee knocked Thune in an e-mail, saying his contention that he would be better positioned than Daschle to protect Ellsworth Air Force Base "turned out to be hollow."

The Democratic campaign committee also took a shot at Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the former majority leader, whose home town of Pascagoula would lose its naval station under the Pentagon plan. "Is Lott losing influence in Washington, D.C.?" the committee asked in a written statement....

***

In Pennsylvania, the state Democratic Party assailed Republican Sen. Rick Santorum for voting last year against a measure to delay another round of closings. The state's Naval Air Station Willow Grove would lose more than 1,200 jobs under the Pentagon plan, and several other facilities would be closed....Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) called the recommendation to target three facilities in her state, including the proposed closing of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, "stunning, devastating, and above all, outrageous."...


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-basepolitics14may14,0,4868463.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[wakeme2008]

23. While in the end I am very happy Daschle lost

and we have more of a fighter in Reid now, that AFB was toast no matter who was in the Senate. It was only there for the Cold War for missles and SAC. It is no longer needed and needs to be closed.

But I like the fact it will be closed while a Repug with ties to the WH is in the Senate. :)

[IndianaGreen]

24. The hearings by the BRAC commission have always been political

but some installations should have been closed years ago, like Fort Monroe, and some installations should have never been built were it not for people like Trent Lott or Strom Thurmond.

The last BRAC round took place under the Clinton Administration. The majority of the installations on the BRAC list really deserved to be on the list. The only criticism I have about the current BRAC list is that it did not go far enough.

[LdyGuique]

25. It's a sad sad day when voters base their votes on the

perception of political clout over base closures. This is part of a long term "end of cold war" defense cutback. Since there are more red states, guess who has more base closings? Washington state has no closings -- and a Dem Governor. Alaska, my state, was spared closings but will suffer severe cutbacks (and we've nothing but elected Reepers).

Frankly, it's about time that these closings started to occur and I'm content that it happened during a Rep administration. Let them take the hits for something no longer needed.

Maybe some genuine Congressional support for real jobs and anti-CAFTA/NAFTA and globalization tax credits might help them get reelected.

[jpak]

26. Maine voters are not going to be happy when they find out

that the all those payrolls leaving Brunswick Naval Air Station are going to end up in JEB's backyard.

Blue-state punishment, Red-state reward....