"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 14:16:41 -0700, "Tarver Engineering"
wrote:


"Scott Ferrin" wrote in message
.. .

There are going to be politicians out there who are going to fight the
cancelation of ANY weapon system because it's being built in their
domain.

Non-sequitur.

No, brush up on your Latin. That's a truism, but it definitely is not
a non-sequitur.

It was non responsive to what I wrote.

The thing that makes a decison/system/whatver "pork barrel"
is when it's built mainly because the politicians want it to be so
they keep those jobs and get those votes.

All aviation is politics.

That would be called a baseless assertion. One could as easily say
that "all aviation is business". Or, maybe "all aviation is Freudian
penis-envy...." Nah, sometimes a cigar is just a smoke.

That is a truism.

There are quite a few that
fit that description (V-22) but when it's the people who will be using
it who are clamoring for it it isn't "pork barrel". There is more to
the definition of "pork barrel" than simply "not loved by all". The
simplest test is who wants to buy it and who wants to cancel it.

I have to go with wether the aircraft woks, or not; but I can understand
you
being confused.

Every airplane has to be built in someone's district. And, let's agree
that the US is better served by domestic production of our weapons
than international consortium.

And that production is always a pork delivery, because it transfers money
into the District.

If the military is an active participant in the development program
and they decide that it meets requirements, than it is hard to argue
"pork." As mentioned if the military is ambivalent or in opposition,
then you've got "political" and "pork". Maybe a better example is the
years of forcing F-111s on the USAF because John Tower was Speaker.

I claim the two are identical from a political support perspective.

Some in USAF are so invested in the F-22 that cancelleation would be the end
of their careers. Instead of a golden parachute to Lockmart they would just
be done.

Once again, aviation politics.

And, when the F-16 was bought, lo and behold--same builder, same
plant, same district---but no longer pork because now the production
out of Ft. Worth was something we wanted and needed.

LOL

Have another drink, Ed.