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The Wall Street Journal’s “Weekend Interview” admiringly depicts Senator John McCain as a brave and maverick leader of the Republican Party.
Instead, author Stephen Moore inadvertently reveals why Senator McCain has not been more effective as a legislator and campaigner.
For starters, there is McCain’s misplaced obsession with “earmarks.” McCain describes these congressional appropriations for local projects as a “creeping disease” that is “killing our party.”
No, they’re not. To be sure, the Republicans’ inability and unwillingness to contain spending when they were in power has contributed mightily to the party’s demise. But McCain and other GOP legislators are going to have to cut a lot more than just earmarks – always an infinitesimal portion of the overall federal budget - if ever they are to manage and reform federal spending.
Problem is very few GOP legislators ─ and McCain is a prime example, unfortunately ─ are willing to get their hands dirty legislatively. McCain’s experience with the defense budget is a case in point. As an aviator and as a naval officer, Senator McCain was a great warrior; but unlike, say, former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn, he simply doesn’t understand the intricacies of the defense budget. McCain relies heavily on his staff and outside “experts”─long-time Washington hands who reflect the center-left conventional wisdom.
That’s why McCain joined forces with President Obama to enact the most significant and far-reaching weapon systems cuts since the Carter administration 30 years ago. And that’s why he helped Obama and congressional Democrats to enact the mislabeled “Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009.”
In fact, this newly enacted law is the antithesis of reform. It imposes new regulatory straitjackets and bureaucratic decrees on private-sector industry, thereby stifling innovation and entrepreneurship in an already stultified acquisition system.
The oft-stated rationale for these new bureaucratic strictures is the charge by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that 96 leading weapon systems have experienced cumulative cost overruns of $296 billion and delays of two years on average. McCain and the media have robotically reported this charge ad infinitum, perhaps because they don’t know any better. But as former Pentagon acquisition chief John Young observed in a March 31, 2009 memorandum, “$296 billion is a sensational number that is misleading, out-of-date, and irrelevant to the current DoD procurement process.”
Young notes that 86 of the 96 programs have experienced an average cost growth of just 7.7 percent; and the preponderance of the cost growth is attributable to six programs that were started in or before 1996.
Moreover, the so-called cost overruns often involve the military’s more rapid purchase of more technologically advanced gear than it originally anticipated because of lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan.” That’s certainly the case with the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization program, which grew in size because the Army sought to provide more modern gear to more troops sooner.
You’d never know this by reading the New York Times or even from listening to Congressional testimony. You’d only know this if you took the time to understand the defense budget and the military acquisition system; yet, that is something Republicans are loathe to do. The GOP thinks that winning elections and retaining power is a matter of smart politics, not wise and innovative public policy. They’re wrong.
“Senator McCain’s support of the “Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act” reveals that he simply doesn’t understand the intricacies of the defense budget. McCain relies heavily on his staff and outside “experts” ─ long-time Washington hands who reflect the center-left conventional wisdom.”
Hell… I don’t have to read another word!
(*THUMBS UP*) (*APPLAUSE*) (*GRIN*)
“…Senator McCain has not been more effective as a legislator and campaigner.”
McCain was never an effective legislator – at least not for the GOP. He got his political start as a well-connected, well-liked in the right circles “celebrity” (hero) politicians and it’s been basically style over substance ever since.
Hell… even on his signature issue – earmarks – the man has never come close to being effective in the legislative manner say Tom Coburn was last year. (*SHRUG*)
“As an aviator and as a naval officer, Senator McCain was a great warrior…”
No. Actually he wasn’t! He made it through flight training and into combat as a pilot because of who he was… who his father was… who his grandfather was… who his family was. His claim to fame – true heroism as a POW in refusing to “cut the line” and accept “early” release – was prefaced by…
***BEING SHOT DOWN***
Call me crazy… but I want my country’s warriors to be DOING the shooting down, not GETTING shot down, and certainly not crashing multi-million-dollar aircrafts during training. (*SNORT*)
“…unlike, say, former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn, he simply doesn’t understand the intricacies of the defense budget.”
Yep. Fits in with everything I’ve read over the years.
“…[McCain] helped Obama and congressional Democrats to enact the mislabeled “Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009.””
(*SIGH*)
Hey… I haven’t read the Act… I’m in favor of the F-22 program cut… but I read the words “he helped Obama” and I ask myself… “can anything good come of this?”
“…new bureaucratic strictures…”
Yet another phrase that sends a chill down my spine.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
(Actually, one of my sisters-in-law – and her husband, obviously making him one of my brothers-in-law – work for DOD. They’re both field auditors. I’ll make sure to ask them what the deal is – from their perspectives – next time we get together.)
“…cost overruns often involve the military’s more rapid purchase of more technologically advanced gear than it originally anticipated because of lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan.”
True. But beyond this, many cost overruns are the client’s “fault” (the military’s fault… the government’s fault) in the sense of spec changes. (*SHRUG*) Hey… happens in the private sector all the time too! It’s the nature of the beast.
BILL
I worked in the defense industry for many years.
The biggest single problem I found was that all too often, the customer didn’t understand the mission the system was supposed to perform, in precise enough logic that we engineers could design against it. We engineers couldn’t take customer handwaving on PowerPoint slides, and design a system from that. We had to understand precisely what was going to happen in each possible scenario. Military strategy and tactics have never been specified that precisely (especially today’s information warfare and asymmetric warfare); yet we were supposed to develop automated command-and-control systems to carry out those missions with relatively less human involvement.
As a result, we engineers often ended up having to help the customer define the mission that the system was supposed to perform, as well as inventing the system to carry out that mission! I’ll never forget the time I got involved with defining the mission of a system that was supposed to operate in an NBC (nuclear-biological-chemical) environment. We had one NBC expert on our team. The rest of us just had to use our common sense as to how this mission would go. I didn’t know anything about how tactical air support would use automated systems to fight in a combined NBC environment. I just used my active imagination.
Other cost overruns were the result of deliberate low-balling (artificially low bids to get the taxpayers to “buy in” to the system); and pushing the state of the art everywhere, with all the attendant risks and costs to handle those risks.
All too often, we engineers would risk our careers by telling the customer that they didn’t really understand what they wanted, and they should go back home and think it over for another year or two before awarding any contracts.
“That’s why McCain joined forces with President Obama to enact the most significant and far-reaching weapon systems cuts since the Carter administration 30 years ago. And that’s why he helped Obama and congressional Democrats to enact the mislabeled “Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009.”
…………Leaving aside that this is a totally grotesque exaggeration…….the defense budget actually increased by about 4%…….how is it Bob Gates doesn’t get mentioned in any of this…….after all he and the pentagon assemble the defense procurement requests and not the president………I suppose Gates doesn’t know what he’s doing either……….more likely Guardiano wants to make it all McCain and Obama’s responsibility rather than the Defense department who are actually responsible for all this operational stuff
…………Sinz mentions being involved in military procurement……….I’ve had some distant involvement in that a company I had oversight of did some military work……..what a joke…….they seem to apply the same process to ordering lawn mowers that they do to supersonic jets………Huge and complex specs to start with that are then subject to constant “improvement.” T
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FJIwg2jbUP4/SnbMGGHROLI/AAAAAAAAFE/yqfqy1M7gV4/s1600-h/vg-military-spending2.jpg
Which if I got it right is a chart showing that not only does the US spend 48% of all the world’s military money but that our percentage of GDP is exceeded only by a few mid-east nations. Unless we want to follow the ancient Romans or the Victorian English by patrolling the globe, this is clearly excessive.
Matthew Yglesias has the chart if I got it wrong.
4 johnmcc // Aug 3, 2009 at 4:50 pm
“Which if I got it right is a chart showing that not only does the US spend 48% of all the world’s ”
……….Actually I thought it was slightly more at 54%…….but you don’t get it……..these guys wouldn’t be happy if we were spending 100% of global expenditures!……the fact that this is far more than we need isn’t on their radar because they are obsessed with militarism for its own sake……..what we need to keep these guys happy is some red square military parades with vast numbers of troops and endless columns of military hardware……but could we do the goose step?
Perfect:
“The GOP thinks that winning elections and retaining power is a matter of smart politics, not wise and innovative public policy.”
The stuff of revolutions:
“Young notes that 86 of the 96 programs have experienced an average cost growth of just 7.7 percent; and the preponderance of the cost growth is attributable to six programs that were started in or before 1996.”
You know, the depression may have come and gone. If the 7.7% is annualized, reverse this to a negative and apply it to personal investment balances and earned income over the same and there’s life in the real world.
This is the kind of information that needs to be disseminated by the GOP – we need to find charasmatic articulate candidates who can engage the population in learning about more complex issues. In short we need someone like Rudy. The GOP needs a leader that can speak to the math people – the budget and audit community. With all the bafoonary, I not certain these folks are still in the party. They are the creationist crowd.
supporters for issues like this not those interested in a birth certificate or for the social con litmus test.
Cforchange // Aug 3, 2009 at 5:25 pm
……….It’s the economic, managerial, competence conservatives that have peeled off…….because of denial of reality……and guess what……we’re denying reality on the admin’s management of the economy……..as of now this quarter I’m going to bet the economy is growing in real terms……the financial system has been stabilized….the stock market is up 40% from its bottom……by the second quarter of next year the economy will be growing at about 4%………conservatives can deny it all they want and rant on about birth certificates and other bs but at the end of the day that’s what Obama and the Democrats are going to be judged by not the rantings of Limbaugh and co…….it’s no accident that Democratic congressional fundraising is outpacing Republican!
Barker, please don’t disparage McCain’s service just because you don’t like him as a politican. Yes, his father was a four-star admiral but he still sacrificed quite a bit for this country.
Sinz, that sounds about right. An additional problem is requirements creep as the services keep adding on more advanced things they want a weapon system to do as it is being developed.
Re: Dragonlady // Aug 3, 2009 at 9:13 pm –
“Barker, please don’t disparage McCain’s service just because you don’t like him as a politican.”
Typical. (*SNORT*) No one single challenge of any specific point I made.
READ MUCH…??? COMPREHEND MUCH…??? Here… put on your glasses… try again:
John Guardiano wrote: “As an aviator and as a naval officer, Senator McCain was a great warrior…”
Bill Barker replied: “No. Actually he wasn’t! He made it through flight training and into combat as a pilot because of who he was… who his father was… who his grandfather was… who his family was. His claim to fame – true heroism as a POW in refusing to “cut the line” and accept “early” release – was prefaced by…
***BEING SHOT DOWN***
Call me crazy… but I want my country’s warriors to be DOING the shooting down, not GETTING shot down, and certainly not crashing multi-million-dollar aircrafts during training. (*SNORT*)
==========
Now. Exactly WHERE did I “disparage” McCain’s heroism…??? Hmm…???
Is it logic as well as reading comprehension where you’re weak…??? Hmm…???
Guardiano referred to McCain as a, QUOTE, “great warrior.”
WARRIOR…
I address John McCain’s well known WEAKNESSES as a WARRIOR.
As for McCain heroism…
AGAIN… PAY ATTENTION if it’s within your capacity…
What I wrote, was, QUOTE, “McCain’s] claim to fame – true heroism as a POW in refusing to “cut the line” and accept “early” release…”
TRUE HEROISM…!!!
TRUE HEROISM as a POW in refusing to “cut the line” and accept “early” release…!!!
What is your malfunction, Dragonlady…??? Is resorting to distortion of other’s words really the best you can come up with…???
Com’on… put up or shut up. Tell me point by point where I was untruthful in ANYTHING I wrote about McCain.
BILL
Barker,
How much do you know about military officership and aviation? Is being an aviator, officer, and POW all separate items of “warrior-ship” in your eyes? Do you know how to fly an attack aircraft over an enemy capital through heavy AAA and surface to air missile fire? If not, I suggest you plug your piehole because you have NO idea what you’re talking about then.
Re: Dragonlady // Aug 4, 2009 at 1:48 am –
“Barker, How much do you know about…”
Yet another refusal to directly address the point, to meet the challenge of telling me specifically where you think I’ve gone wrong.
“Is being an aviator, officer, and POW all separate items of “warrior-ship” in your eyes? Do you know how to fly an attack aircraft over an enemy capital through heavy AAA and surface to air missile fire?”
ONE MORE TIME… (back to the “videotape…) (*SNORT*)
GUARDIANO wrote: “As an aviator and as a naval officer, Senator McCain was a great warrior…”
“…GREAT warrior…”
“…GREAT…”
(You know… as in far better than AVERAGE… as in OUTSTANDING in the performance of his role, his MISSONS…)
Let’s take a stroll through memory lane – shall we?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/10/mccain_fudges_his_navy_record.html
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_mccain_crash_five_planes_did_he.html
Senator McCain crashed his first navy plane while in training. The date… March 12, 1960.
For literally 48 years McCain LIED about the cause of that crash. He LIED about the cause of the crash in his 1999 best seller “Faith of My Fathers.” He was only “caught” when the navy finally released part of his actual records in 2008.
* MCCAIN’S version, “Faith of My Fathers,” 1999 (pp155-156):
“I crashed a plane in Corpus Christi Bay one Saturday morning. The engine quit while I was practicing landings. … I barely managed to get the canopy open and swim to the surface. … I took a few painkillers and hit the sack to rest my aching back for a few hours. … I was out carousing, injured back and all, later that evening.”
** THE ACTUAL FACTUAL MILITARY RECORD:
According to a Naval Aviation Safety Center report, following the crash investigators determined that the engine did not quit, and McCain was to blame.
As recounted in a Los Angeles Times article, Oct. 6, 2008:
“Cockpit instruments that froze on impact showed the engine was still producing power. When water quenched the exhaust stack, it preserved a bright blue color, showing that the engine was still hot. And an aviator behind McCain reported that the engine was producing the black smoke characteristic of Skyraiders. Investigators determined that McCain was watching instruments in his cockpit that indicated the position of his landing gear and had lost track of his altitude and speed. The report concluded: “In the opinion of the board, the pilot’s preoccupation in the cockpit . . . coupled with the use of a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn were the primary causes of this accident.”"
(*SMIRK*)
Oops.
So… Dragonlady… how do you like the way this exchange is turning out for you…??? Has it sunk in yet that all your “defense” of McCain has led to is for all of those reading this who WEREN’T aware that McCain had not just crashed a plane during training, but had LIED about the incident for almost five decades… they’re all NOW aware…???
GREAT JOB, DL! Super! Yep… as an “advocate” for John McCain you’re doing a bang up job.
(*SMIRK*)
More…??? Sure…
(Hey… cheer up… in the following case at least McCain isn’t shown as a liar – only as irresponsible.)
*** McCain’s OWN version…
MCCAIN, “Faith of My Fathers,” 1999 (p. 159):
“There were occasional setbacks in my efforts to round out my Navy profile. My reputation was certainly not enhanced when I knocked down some power lines while flying too low over southern Spain. My daredevil clowning had cut off electricity to a great many Spanish homes and created a small international incident.”
The L.A. Times, which interviewed others who were in McCain’s squadron at the time, reports that he returned to the carrier with 10 feet of power line trailing from his plan, and with a severed oil line.
FUNNY STUFF, huh, Dragonlady!? Just “a boy being a boy,” huh?
I mean… nothing to look askew at, right? It’s only a multimillion dollar aircraft. And it’s not like there are people or property at risk on the ground, right…???
OH…! YEAH…! I guess there WERE people on the ground whom McCain not only “inconvenienced” but whose lives he cavalierly risked.
And, hey… what’s a “severed oil line” between friends, huh? I mean… it’s not like THAT could have led to anything… er… bad happening.
(*SMIRK*)
(Boy, DL… if McCain were lurking reading this thread he’d sure be… er… grateful to YOU for… er… so effectively… er… “defending” his reputation as a “great warrior.”)
(*SNORT*)
OH… LOOK… another CRASH to report on…
**** McCain’s OWN version…
MCCAIN, “Faith of My Fathers,” 1999 (p. 172):
“Somewhere between the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Norfolk, Virginia, as I was preparing to come in and refuel, my engine flamed out, and I had to eject at a thousand feet. The Christmas gifts were lost with my airplane.”
Oh… what’s that you say, DL…??? You want context… you wanna know what McCain was talking about? Sure!
“Nov. 28 1965: By this time Lt. McCain was stationed at Meridian, Mississippi, and was newly married to his first wife, Carol. McCain had flown to Philadelphia to attend an Army-Navy football game with his parents and was bringing back Christmas presents for the family in the baggage compartment of his plane. His jet engine quit over the Chesapeake Bay.”
Christmas presents. Christmas presents and Army-Navy football. Yep. Well worth the loss of yet another taxpayer provided aircraft – this time one apparently used as personal leisure transportation for Admiral McCain’s son John. (*SMIRK*)
***** THE OFFICIAL VERSION (or… rather… the FIRST “official version” vs. the SECOND “official version”):
The L.A. Times obtained records of the investigation of this crash, giving a somewhat different picture but ultimately blaming engine failure:
****** From the Los Angeles Times, Oct. 8, 2008:
“In a report dated Jan. 18, 1966, the Naval Aviation Safety Center said it could not determine the cause of the accident or corroborate McCain’s account of an explosion in the engine. A close examination of the engine found “no discrepancies which would have caused or contributed to engine failure or malfunction.” . . . About two weeks after issuing its report, the safety center revised its findings and said the accident resulted from the failure or malfunction of an “undetermined component of the engine.”
Hmm! Imagine that! Two weeks later a “revised” finding! Oh… and surprise, surprise… the Admiral’s son rates the “benefit of the doubt” and all of a sudden in a situation where trained investigators had found NO “discrepancies which would have caused or contributed to engine failure or malfunctions,” magically, two weeks later, the official finding is… er… “revised” to become “failure or malfunction of an undetermined component of the engine.”
(*SMIRK*)
Anyway, Dragonlady… you keep on… er… “helping” John McCain.
(*WINK*)
BILL
Certainly I meant They are NOT the creationist crowd.
Barker, what I objected to was this flatly ignornant statement:
“Call me crazy… but I want my country’s warriors to be DOING the shooting down, not GETTING shot down…(*SNORT*)”
Face it–you have no idea the nature of a bombing mission over a heavily defended enemy’s capital. You also conveniently left out that while McCain started out as sub-par aviator, his skills improved over time and his fellow aviators in Vietnam said McCain was a good pilot. SO
My post got cut off, but over 3000 fixed wing aircraft were lost to hostile action in Vietnam. What barker said was an insult to all those men that got shot down in Vietnam. They were NOT sub-standard warriors because they were shot down.
Re: Dragonlady // Aug 4, 2009 at 12:33 pm –
(*GRIN*)
I take it we’re done now.
(*WINK*)
BILL
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