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Folsom to Pelosi: Bewildered & Dismayed

By Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr.

M50o93H7pQ09L8X1t49cHY01Z5j4TT91fGfr Folsom to Pelosi: Bewildered & Dismayed

Published: Tue, March 04, 2008 - 6:21 pm

Dear Madame Speaker:
Much to my dismay and with a measurable degree of bewilderment, I noted your call for
congressional hearings on the recently awarded Northrop Grumman EADS Airbus contract for
replacement of the Air Force tanker fleet. As you must be aware, this project will have an
extraordinary impact on the City of Mobile, Alabama, and the surrounding areas of our state.
Congressional hearings serve only to delay the positive impacts this project will have on
our state and our people.
As you well know, the exhaustive bidding and vendor selection process required over two
years to complete and should have answered any concerns you may now have. I find it hard to
understand your sudden scrutiny of this selection. The rules of the process were agreed upon in
advance, and the selection played out according to those rules. Basic impartiality requires that we
honor the outcome of this process regardless of personal preference.
A report from defense analyst Loren Thompson shows Northrop dominated the
competition in all measures of merit: mission capability, proposal risk, past performance,
cost/price, and integrated assessment. Thompson's report states with certainty that Northrop
Grumman's victory ''was not a close outcome."
Refueling tankers will be built in Mobile, resulting in the creation of over 2000 new jobs,
having a profound impact on the lives of thousands of Alabama families.
Should you pursue this arbitrary and subjective course of action, I implore you to
consider the implications these congressional hearings will have on the thousands of Americans
who stand to benefit from this new project in Mobile, Alabama.
Sincerely
Jim Folsom, Jr.
Lt. Governor

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Boeing knew better than to squawk about foreign partnerships in the beginning of the selection process, because they would have been eliminated right off the bat!

Posted by BamaBob on 03/06/08 - 12:43 pm • Report Abuse

A few decades ago I worked for a manufacturing company located along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. It had relocated form California. All the executives had sold their modest homes in California and were living like kings and queens in Mississippi. Point being, there is absolutely no comparison between the cost of real estate in this area and that of California. But, don’t tell anyone! lol

Posted by BamaBob on 03/06/08 - 12:40 pm • Report Abuse

I understand there will be a press conference tomorrow at 2pm (CST). Perhaps that will clear up the questions of those who oppose the Northrop Grumman/EADS contract.

Scubadude if you are really interested in housing prices here, I am sure you can check any real estate site and find that there is no way a house in California, of comparable size including lot size could come close to comparing to what Alabama has to offer.

I never said that all of our citizens were legal, or that we don’t buy items from other countries. I said you need to look at your own back door before you start harping that this is a “security” issue. The only ones who feel threatened by the decision is the one’s whose pockets will not be padded from kickbacks from Boeing, and those that have not read the previous reports by Northrop Grumman/EADS-yes it is a joint venture, one between two companies.

If there was a problem with what was offered from Northrop, then a bid should not have been allowed 3 years ago.

Posted by rmseek1234 on 03/06/08 - 12:23 pm • Report Abuse

Scubadude
You are just an old unhappy man that wants to complain about something and this is the last remark you are going to get out of me. You are not reading the article I keep referring to because if you had then you would be able to keep up with the Facts and not play on emotions. And if Congress keeps messing with this contract the planes will never get built and our Men and Women in the Airforce will be put in a bad position. If this was such an injustice for America why is this not on CNN or Foxnews or MSNBC? Because they know that this is just a bunch of politicians that are upset that their states did not get the contract or the boast to their economy.
The rules were set forth from the begining if it was such a big deal about EADS being involved then why were they even allow to bid on the project? This was done so that the Airforce could get the best plane for our Tax dollars period.

Posted by asda on 03/06/08 - 12:11 pm • Report Abuse

Scubadude

I did not question your spelling or grammatical capabilities. I questioned your evasion of the facts as we now know them.

Posted by BamaBob on 03/06/08 - 11:56 am • Report Abuse

asda & BamaBob,
wow, you guys are really ganging up on poor little uneducated unamerican me. bob please give me a correction on the spelling in my post . your statement “You seem like you are not even educated.”
this is not a grammaticly correct sentence.

you guys started the yankees theme(are californians yankees?), i just countered with the budda statement.

i have not gone to bekeley to protest the marines (how do you make statements with no knowledge). i served proudly in the u.s. army from 1966 to 1968. i could serve up a endless supply of redneck digs, but what is the point?

if these jobs were going to california or arizona the good citizens of alabama would be outraged. you have sold your american soul for a few jobs.

i will make one concession. lets pin down airbus and boeing,
each must give it’s best estimate of the amount and duration of jobs to be created in american, with our $40,000,000,000 tax dollars.

Posted by scubadude on 03/06/08 - 11:45 am • Report Abuse

scubadude you live in california. Wow and you are talking about this contract. I bet you are one of those people who were protesting the Marines having a recruiting office in your town. Grow up and read the statements below and then respond.
http://www.wkrg.com/news/article/tanker_will_support_25000_jobs_in_us/11084/

Posted by asda on 03/06/08 - 9:26 am • Report Abuse

scubadude Before you start cutting down the people in Alabama you should know that I have my MBA and work in the Industrial Marine industry. All of my friends are college educated and have good jobs. You are the one stuck in the past and call us Bubbas. You seem like you are not even educated. Look at the spelling in your post. Read the response that Northrop and EADS gave. Everything that you are saying is not true. The only reason these politicians are so mad is because they are not going to get the extra boost to their economy. You need to actually read all the facts before you start making statements.

Posted by asda on 03/06/08 - 9:15 am • Report Abuse

* The Northrop Grumman KC-45A will include approximately 60 percent U.S. content.

It is America’s tanker.

Posted by BamaBob on 03/06/08 - 7:37 am • Report Abuse

Scubadude

What are you basing your claims upon? Northrop has addressed almost every issue you raise and debunked them. Have you bothered to investigate any of this, or are you just on an emotional rant that has no basis in truth?

This area of the country is very familiar with security issues. Thirty minutes west of the Mobile county line is Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. The place that has built much of the modern Navy’s destroyers. Security is extremely tight in that facility.

So, using a scare tactic about giving up military secrets to France just isn’t going to wash with us Alabamians!

Posted by BamaBob on 03/06/08 - 7:30 am • Report Abuse