25 responses to “Obamination #4,317: AT-6 Award to Brazil company”

1. 

   Todd Juvinall

   08 January 2012

   Next Obama will contract with the Chinese military to man our defenses.

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2. 

   Russ Steele

   08 January 2012

   Outsourcing our military manufacturing ability! That should work out well, given the overall decline in US manufacturing capacity. We will soon be a third world country total dependent on others for all manufactured goods, if O has his way. As I recall he gave Brazil $2 billion dollars to develop deep well drilling capacity, while he was restricting our own capacity. One has to wonder, if Brazil will become his retirement destination.

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3. 

   billy T

   08 January 2012

   Obama? Isn’t he the guy who gave Mexico billions of dollars to develop deep water oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP spill? During the time he ordered a freeze on all US permits? I could be wrong, but this Obama dude should stick to being a “community organizer” and protest banks for not lending money to people who do not have any resources. I hope he is not the same cat known as Barrack Hussein Obama. If they are indeed one and the same, then we are in for a real roller coaster ride. Nay, can’t be.

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4. 

   www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmNWbVtDRGQBpPJEsSqSh1AePLXrZrp3tc

   08 January 2012

   #1. Aircraft is one of the last remaining manufacturing sectors we still have prominence in.
   #2. Our only hope in reversing the trend in manufacturing loses in this country is to be able to rely on our existing base to rebuild our lost sectors.
   #3. It is obvious that those in control of how these contacts are placed are not influenced by our middle income unemployed but rather by international non-American interests.
   This is obvious and blatant. You are being devoured!
   Bob White

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5. 

   JBCroul

   08 January 2012

   Is this site becoming another urban legend node forwarding right wing conservative mass mailings and frequently flinging Soros’ name around to to lend credence to crackpot conspiracy theories?
   The referenced “Flying” article also mentions a partnership between Embraer and Sierra Nevada Corp., a Reno based company with offices also in Folsom. According to Snopes, Embraer said the planes would be manufactured in the US.
   Snopes mentions that Soros might indirectly be a customer of Embraer but the Soros ownership of Embraer is not verified.

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6. 

   billy T

   08 January 2012

   Well, here on the home front, Chrysler is adding 1,1000 new jobs to keep up with the demand for their Durangos and Cherokees. Stupid thoughtless Americans want their big ole putt putts despite Obama offering them a $7,500 tax credit if they buy an electric car. Ok, Chevy has poured billions into their electric Fred Flintstone cars and have sold over 6,000 of them to date. Stunning figures. Maybe the price is too low, lol. Meanwhile, GM is ramping up production for their big gas guzzling trucks and SUVs as well as Ford. Manufacturing jobs at the Big 3 are increasing and if they sell enough trucks and SUVs, they can recoup their losses on their little electric golf carts with doors. That is what I call green sprouts.

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7. 

   Douglas Keachie

   08 January 2012

   “While losing the contract could lead to job losses in Wichita, Embraer has made a compelling case for U.S. job creation in its bid proposal. The company said it will build the Super Tucanos in Florida in partnership with prime contractor Sierra Nevada, a U.S.-based technology company. The companies say they’ll use more than 70 U.S. suppliers and create more than 1,200 U.S. jobs.”
   Is there any difference in the spec for the aircraft produced by the companies? If not, go with the party that makes’em cheaper, isn’t that the proper invisible hand of the market way? Obama’s being damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t
   So I guess now all the job creating money that’s be withheld to make Obama look bad, will be spent attempting to make him look even worse. Good time to buy stock in companies that make negative political ads. I would expect story after story on FOX about black perps, whenever they become available. No racism in the USA? HA! See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxx1mWN-B0

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8. 

   George Rebane

   08 January 2012

   The bidding process, the initial bid, and the renegotiations on the final contract seem to have been overlooked in the counter arguments. By all means, let’s buy the best airplane for the least cost from the most reliable source (a three attribute utility already).

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9. 

   Dave Cranfield

   08 January 2012

   A couple of years ago, Northrop Grumman, in concert with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS)was awarded a $30B+ contract to build the KC-45 refueling tankers for the USAF. EADS was going to supply Airbus A-330 as the platform aircraft. Boeing, the other bidder complained to the General Accounting Office. The GAO upheld Boeings grievance, and ordered the project re-bid, which was then awarded to Boeing about a year later.
   Maybe there is still hope for Hawker-Beech.

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10. 

    George Rebane

    08 January 2012

    DaveC 345pm – We recall that reneg and bid. The question becomes ‘Given the benefits of globalization for consumers of all nations, what should be a sovereign-nation state’s criteria for procuring the arms by which it intends to secure its sovereignty in future years?’

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11. 

    Todd Juvinall

    08 January 2012

    George the JBCroul poster is Judith Lowry-Croul from Pellines blog. Quite a nasty person.

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12. 

    Russ Steele

    08 January 2012

    This is a very interesting chart [click on link]:
    “Decline of Manufacturing” is Global Phenomenon: And Yet the World Is Much Better Off Because of It
    Bottom Line: When we hear claims that “nothing is made here anymore,” it’s not really the case that somebody else is making the stuff Americans used to make as it is the case that we (and others around the world) just don’t manufacture as much “stuff” any more in relation to the growing levels of national income, which the graph above clearly shows. 
    The main reason that the manufacturing/GDP ratio has declined in the U.S. and around the world is that productivity gains for durable goods have significantly lowered the price of those goods relative to: a) the prices of services, and b) household incomes, as I pointed out in this CD post on the “miracle of manufacturing.” In other words, the declining manufacturing/GDP ratio reflects declining prices for manufacturing goods, which is a sign of economic progress, not regress.  The standard of living around the world today, along with global wealth and prosperity, are all much, much higher today with manufacturing representing 16% of total world output (including the U.S.) compared to 1970, when it was almost twice as high at almost 27%. And for that progress, we should celebrate, not complain about the “decline of manufacturing.”  

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13. 

    George Rebane

    08 January 2012

    Russ 919pm – Good point well made. And this trend also has a double edge for those workers who cannot access skills required in the destructively created new jobs.

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14. 

    Douglas Keachie

    08 January 2012

    If the “little electric golf carts with doors. That is what I call green sprouts.” were made in Belgium, they could be “Brussels Sprouts.” USA car companies aren’t doing too badly:
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/09/us-detroit-gloom-idUSTRE8070H520120109
    not to bad for socialized automobile companies.

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15. 

    George Rebane

    09 January 2012

    The points on large mismanaged corporations surviving by being held to lesser business standards has been made countless times in these pages. These “socialized automobile companies” were Democrat vote buying schemes pure and simple. With other people’s money the government bolstered capitalists who should have failed and thereby cleared the markets. Instead, their bad behavior in the marketplace was fostered by vindicating a workforce that elects local leaders whose only talent is corruption and turning Detroit into a no-man’s land. (And ‘too big to fail’ got another shot in the arm.) Raze comes to mind as an alternative policy for starting over again.

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16. 

    Todd Juvinall

    09 January 2012

    The true capitalists in the gm/Chrydsler takeover were the bond holders who were totally screwed. I have not heard of their plight since Obama stole their money.

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17. 

    Douglas Keachie

    09 January 2012

    If Detroit was making Toyota like vehicles from the start, it would have done wonders for bond holders, who should have bailed earlier, when they should have realized they had a real lemon on their hands, way back when Obama was barely out of law school. If you are a free marketeer, you must believe only the bondholders are responsible for their fates.

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18. 

    Douglas Keachie

    09 January 2012

    In short, if the true free marketeers didn’t like the risks associated with investing in the unionized Big Three, they were perfectly free to state their own non union plants in a right to work state. This is much like George bringing up the notion that if you are unemployed, start up your own business, if you don’t like being an employee. For some reason, obviously, the bond holders felt investing in the Big Three was a “better” investment than starting a brand new company.

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19. 

    George Rebane

    09 January 2012

    DougK 1020&1025am – You bring up an excellent perspective here, and as a conservetarian and free-market capitalist I would agree, except for one factor – the arbitrary entry of big gun government into the mix. As a pre-takeover bond holder, I knew that by law my loan to the corporation was secured by its assets, on which I and other creditors would have a draw if the company could not service its debt. By fiat, the government entered the fray, took over the company (preventing liquidation of assets to satisfy its creditors), and told the bond holders to go suck an egg. All this was done contrary to existing laws upon which the bondholders initially assessed their investment (lending) risk.
    When the government starts breaking its own laws, the individual investor has no chance whatsoever – except to further increase his distrust of the state as a corrupt, well-armed thief. This, of course, makes the cost of future borrowing more expensive for such potential corporate cripples.

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20. 

    Gregory

    09 January 2012

    I suspect the railroading has more to do with electoral politics, with Florida jobs (where Embraer will build the factory) being worth more than Wichita KS jobs.
    It should also be noted Hawker Beechcraft did a similar thing to get the T-6 Texan II contracts to begin with. It isn’t an American design, it’s Swiss, built by Hawker in KS:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilatus_PC-9
    The previous trainer, the Beechcraft T-34C, was an American design derived from the venerable Beechcraft Bonanza line, truly a fine machine admired by all 🙂
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-34_Mentor
    Here’s a piston powered version:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:T-34_Mentor_%22Free_Spirit%22_of_Julie_Clark.jpg
    BTW for some local content, Julie Clark, who iirc lives in Cameron Park, has been known to fly that plane into Grass Valley in order to patronize her favorite hairdresser.

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21. 

    Douglas Keachie

    09 January 2012

    If you are or were a bond holder, and still have the bonds, where do you stand now, now that socialism has had it’s day with the Big Three? Are you better off than if you had liquidated the bonds, if you had been permitted to?

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22. 

    Douglas Keachie

    09 January 2012

    That’s the prettiest tax deductable flying billboard I’ve ever seen. I assume she races it?

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23. 

    billy T

    09 January 2012

    Good points, Dr. Rebane and Douglas Keachie. While I am not certain that it is written in law that bondholders always get paid at the front of the line during bankruptcy (after employees), it has been at the very least understood protocol and practice from the bench for the last 130 years. I remember Obama lamenting the greedy bondholders for not taking it on the chin during his first days in office until he got his way. Those greedy bondholder included Wisconsin teachers pension funds, as well as hundreds of other union pension funds invested in GM, lol. Yep, the rules got changed in a blink of hope and change. Mr. Yes We Can should have remembered the old bumper sticker “You don’t change dicks in the middle of a screw, so vote for Nixon in 72.” I recall with great interest when Warren Buffet recommended buying Ford. It was not Ford stock he was buying, but Ford bonds that were guaranteeing 6-7% for 20 years. Mr. Buffet is indeed The Oracle of Omaha after steering away from GM and going with Ford. Yes, my Ford bonds continue to pay nicely, thank you very much. I liked Douglas’s last link. Poor Detroit with all those empty promises made with debt, the city’s drug of choice. Second to NYC. Hmmm, NYC is hurting like a ruptured hemorrhoid since Wall St has cut back on Big Bonuses due to popular demand. The Big Apple is now losing millions of tax revenue it had counted on from those outrageous bonuses that got recent Ivy League grads and common persons living at Mom’s house madder than a hornet. Another point where I agree with Douglas: The haves do indeed take from the have nots, hurting the middle class. The holder of government bonds (I have some old ones that pay 6.2% and I ain’t gonna cash them in yet)…er…the holders of US bonds get paid interest. Yep, the gov’t pays me interest while all you middle class taxpayers have to bust your rears and pay taxes just so Big Brother can turn around and pay me interest. People laughed at me for going bearish in many bull markets. So, in a way Doug, the middle class is being drained to pay me. Income exempt from California taxes is my drug of choice.

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24. 

    Douglas Keachie

    09 January 2012

    And the merry-go-round goes up and down. My dad always said I could have made a fortune selling insurance, but I thought that was an amazing boring thing to do, and wanted to do ethnographic films instead, and teach Anthro at Carbondale Community College. Life has many ways to derail the train, especially a 1st wife who didn’t want to life back there, too far from her mum and dad, and decided so, after number was already out of the oven. My own upbringing was upper middle class, and many of us felt a need to give back. One of the The brightest kids at Berkeley High and best bud back then, and also a son of a prof at Cal, said he wanted to be a high school teacher, and that got me thinking, got a credential as backup. So I never devoted myself to earning tons of cash, and thus do not have the kinds of fall backs you have. Did have the smarts to get excellent deal on property up here and elsewhere. I do know I helped a lot of kids find their own special and I hope positive from my minor influence, ways.

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25. 

    billy T

    09 January 2012

    Doug, I have always viewed any kind of work as valuable. I too never set out to make more money than to last more than 2-3 days and have turned down many positions so I could enjoy my family and stay close to town. No commute for me. Been there, done that. I just always watch the pennies turn into greenies and I hate debt more than anything on this planet. Proof that a dummie like me, or anyone with almost average IQ can improve their lot in life by following simple rules. I applaud you and others for finding a rewarding career based on the altruistic plane. I do indeed put some of our most liberal professors down and mock them without restraint, as well as their little prodigies. Guess it all came together for me the time I was painting a 4 plex down in Santa Barbara. The owner rented the largest apartment to a couple, both of whom were UC Santa Barbara professors. The tenants moved out, taking with them the light fixture hanging over the dinning room table. That did not bother the landlord. What bothered him was the fact that they pulled the wiring down to eye level, removed the electrical caps and left the wall switch on. He called me in to witness this marvelous feat of intellectual genius. He pointed to the bare hot wires hanging at eye level and said, “Look at this….and these people are teaching our children.” We both shook our heads in stunned disbelief. Maybe they were outstanding in the classroom, but stupid is as stupid does. What was the topic? Oh yeah, the manufacturing base in the US of A. Watched our Commence Sec on C-SPAN this morn. He said the same thing as Dr. Rebane and Mr. Steele have been saying. We need more STEM students (sci, tech, engineers, math) for our survival. Only 12.8 of our grads have STEM degrees. Ironically, only 12.8% of us are employed in manufacturing, down from 27% in 1980.

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