The Air Force’s decision to set aside the light air support contract awarded to Sierra Nevada Corp. and its partner, Brazil-based Embraer, does not guarantee the contract will end up going to Wichita’s Hawker Beechcraft. But it supports the contention by Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, and Hawker officials that there were serious problems with the bidding. The Air Force eliminated Hawker Beechcraft from the competition in November for reasons that have yet to be fully explained. Many Americans would question whether any reason would justify outsourcing U.S. jobs on military aircraft to a Brazilian planemaker.
GOP presidential candidates have been criticizing President Obama for apologizing to Afghanistan for the accidental burning of some copies of the Quran. Newt Gingrich said that Obama “is consistently apologizing to people who do not deserve the apology of the president of the United States. Period.” But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended the apology as “the right thing to do.” She also criticized the GOP candidates for trying to politicize it. “I find it somewhat troubling that our politics would inflame such a dangerous situation in Afghanistan,” she said.
“I used to be a conservative, and I watch these debates and I’m wondering, I don’t think I’ve changed,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said in a Dallas speech last week. It’s a view shared by many Republicans and independents worried about how far right the GOP presidential candidates have moved during the primaries. Bush added that it’s troubling “when people are appealing to people’s fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective, and that’s kind of where we are.” Bush said he hopes this changes during the general election.
The Air Force’s decision to set aside the light air support contract awarded to Sierra Nevada Corp. and its partner, Brazil-based Embraer, does not guarantee the contract will end up going to Wichita’s Hawker Beechcraft. But it supports the contention by Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, and Hawker officials that there were serious problems with the bidding. The Air Force eliminated Hawker Beechcraft from the competition in November for reasons that have yet to be fully explained. Many Americans would question whether any reason would justify outsourcing U.S. jobs on military aircraft to a Brazilian planemaker.
