McCain & his lobbying buddies

Tried to pull a fast one...screw over an American company in favor of a European one that the lobbyists work for...get caught...and McCain declares he was against it all along.

THAT'S SOME STRAIGHT-TALKIN'!

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it would reopen bidding on a $35 billion contract for midair refueling tankers, allowing Boeing to continue its effort to wrest the business from a partnership of Northrop Grumman and the European parent of its rival Airbus.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said that the tanker contract, which was won by the partners Northrop and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company in February, would not be awarded until the Pentagon reviewed the rival bids again.

The companies have battled fiercely to land the Air Force’s largest contract, with a potential value of $100 billion. The struggle has been caught in issues of national pride, trans-Atlantic relations and even presidential politics.

Mr. Gates’s action was a public rebuke to the Air Force, which had selected the offering of Northrop and EADS, the parent of Airbus. Shortly after the Air Force made its selection, the Government Accountability Office, acting on a protest from Boeing, said that the Air Force’s decision-making process was flawed and that the tanker contract should be reopened.

And then it gets really interesting:

One of the central players in the tanker contract is Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Several years ago, Mr. McCain stopped the contract from being granted to Boeing, after the terms of a tanker lease arrangement between the Air Force and Boeing were revealed. Some have seen him as favoring a European company over an American one, an impression was not eased by the fact that several of his top campaign advisers had worked as lobbyists for Airbus.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. McCain praised Mr. Gates’s decision as a step toward “full and open competition.”

Oh, but there can never be an appearance of impropriety over the Maverick screwing over Americans in favor of the group his lobbyist buddies got money from....he was shot down in Vietnam y'know.

We can only question John Kerry's three-purple hearts and silver star. Furthermore, George "35 Bombing Missions" McGovern still a pussy.

That's Patriotism!