Lagniappe Mobile Blog

It’s probably not the national spotlight Mobile’s congressman wanted, but Jo Bonner was written about in Bob Novak’s column in The Washington Post on March 11:

“House Republican Leader John Boehner, who, unlike McConnell, does not earmark and criticizes the practice, flinched from making a bold move as this year’s session began. He could have led the House Republican Conference to endorse a yearlong moratorium and name reformer Jeff Flake of Arizona to a vacancy on the Appropriations Committee.

Instead, the Republicans picked Jo Bonner of Alabama, who spent 18 years as a House staffer before his election in 2002. Bonner has voted against Flake in 49 out of 50 attempts to kill earmarks. He has promised his Mobile area constituents that they would get “fair value” for their tax dollar — the justification for bringing home the bacon from Washington. Incredibly, Boehner hailed Bonner’s selection as a step toward earmark reform.”

Novak, whose column is nationally syndicated, doesn’t have a lot of faith in Bonner to be the ultimate fiscal conservative. His criticism is a little unfair. Bonner isn’t likely to be quite as hawkish as Flake, but he won’t line up at the trough like Jack Murtha, the appropriations chair, or even Alabama’s senior senator, Richard Shelby.

Nonetheless, the Novak’s “shout-out” is the latest in national attention Bonner has gotten since getting the assignment on the House Appropriations Committee from conservatives demanding earmark reform.

The mainstream consensus among most in Washington is that Boeing was the victim of some shenanigans by the U.S. Air Force. In fact, it is hard to find anyone beyond the Alabama congressional delegation willing to stand up for the Air Force’s decision.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) even used the tanker award as political ammo against probable Republican nominee Sen. John McCain - who forced the Air Force to bid this enormous contract, instead of the convoluted plan which Boeing would lease the aircraft to the air force, resulting in criminal convictions of a Boeing executive and an Air Force procurement officer.

But for all his faults, Sen. Richard Shelby has been the one on the PR crusade, defending the air force and explaining why this is not a loss for the United States. There seems to be a void in the media of EADS/Northrop Grumman defenders and Shelby has stepped up to the plate.

After making several cable news TV appearances, Shelby had an op/ed published in today’s Financial Times:

“As members of Congress, we are concerned about US jobs. But any assertion that this award “outsources” jobs to France is simply false. With a new assembly site in Mobile, Alabama, this contract will bring tens of thousands of jobs into the US. According to the job-forecasting tool from the department of commerce, Northrop Grumman will employ about the same number of US workers on the tanker contract as Boeing would have. The Northrop Grumman tanker team will employ about 25,000 US workers at more than 230 supplier companies in 49 states,” Shelby wrote.

The Financial Times, a European-based financial publication, has been very friendly to EADS. Although that probably won’t many critics over who have questioned the award to a foreign contractor when the United States has been deemed to be heading toward economic turmoil, it’s a start.

The folks in Mobile have plenty to celebrate this evening.

An estimated $40 billion U.S. Air Force contract was awarded to a Northrop Grumman/EADS partnership which includes 179 planes to be delivered over the next 10-15 years, with the manufacturing facilities to be located at Mobile’s Brookley Field.

Most expected the Northrop Grumman/EADS partnership to do no better than splitting a contract with Boeing, the heavy favorite for the bid, but Northrop and EADS won it outright.

“Today marks the dawn of a new era for Mobile, and I couldn’t be more proud of our city and our state than I am right now,” Rep. Jo Bonner said immediately following the announcement. “We are so very excited about having the opportunity to help the Air Force acquire the most modern and capable refueling tanker – a tanker assembled in America – by Americans.”

The project received hefty lobbying efforts from Mobile’s congressional delegation - including Bonner and Sens. Jeff Session and Richard Shelby.

“The decision by Northrop Grumman/EADS to manufacture the KC-30 in Mobile was a clear endorsement of our state’s workforce, and today’s contract award represents a huge investment in our state,” Sessions said. “The assembly of over 170 tankers in Alabama solidifies our state’s growing reputation as a national leader in defense technology. From one end of the state to the other, Alabama workers are proudly providing our men and women in uniform with the best and most advanced defense technology available. “