WE Blog

The Wall Street Journal made light of the fuss over EADS’ contract to build the U.S. Air Force’s tanker fleet in an editorial headlined “Patriot Tanker Games” and disparaged the calls “for ‘patriotism’ in defense procurement.”
The editorial also warned about the consequences to Boeing if Congress starts a trade war with the European Union over the tanker. “What’s really going on is a familiar scrum for federal cash, with politicians from Washington and Kansas using nationalism as cover for their pork-barreling. Todd Tiahrt, a Kansas Republican, has even talked about a ban on companies whose home governments don’t spend 2 percent of GDP on their militaries, which would include most of Europe.”