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Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Roland Burris controversy could spill into Johnny Isakson’s lap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Congressional Quarterly reports that U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, because of his membership on the Senate Ethics Committee, could find himself drawn into the dispute over whether Roland Burris of Illinois should keep his seat.
Reports CQ:
The Senate Ethics Committee could complete its inquiry of Roland W. Burris within weeks and without waiting for any possible criminal case about discrepancies in statements about his appointment, lawyers familiar with the panel said Friday.
Committee investigations sometimes last months and often defer to criminal cases, such as in last year’s trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. But because Burris, an Illinois Democrat, has offered multiple explanations about how he was appointed, the committee could focus on how he was seated rather than results of a potential criminal charge of perjury.
Then there’s this paragraph:
The inquiry is typically conducted by committee staffers who collect evidence and depositions, and reporting back to lawmakers. Chairman Barbara Boxer , D-Calif., and Vice Chairman Johnny Isakson , R-Ga., could agree to issue subpoenas….
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Your first look at the legislation behind Sonny Perdue’s transportation reorg
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s 100-page bill to remake the state transportation system and emasculate the state Department of Transportation is now available for view online.
You can read S.B. 200 here. We’d be happy to see some armchair analyses.
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In preparation for the fight over the F-22
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A must-read tutorial on the Marietta-made F-22 and its place in U.S. air defense, has been posted at The Atlantic Monthly.
Here’s a sampling:
The next great fighter, the F‑22 Raptor, is every bit as much a marvel today as the F‑15 was 25 years ago, and if we produced the F-22 in sufficient numbers we could move the goalposts out of reach again. But we are building fewer than a third of the number needed to replace the older fighters in service.
After losing hope of upgrading the whole F‑15 fleet, the Air Force requested 381 F‑22s, the minimum number that independent analysts said it needs to retain its current edge. Congress is buying 183, and has authorized the manufacture of parts for 20 more at the front end of the production line, enough to at least keep it working until President Obama decides whether or not to continue building F-22s.
Like so many presidential dilemmas, it’s a Scylla-and-Charybdis choice: a decision to save money and not build more would deliver a severe blow to a sprawling and vital U.S. industry at a time when the nation is mired in recession. And once the production line for the F-22 begins to shut down, restarting it will not be easy or cheap, even in reaction to a new threat.
Each plane consists of about 1,000 parts, manufactured in 44 states, and because of the elaborate network of highly specialized subcontractors needed to fashion its unique airframe and avionics, assembling one F-22 can take as long as three years. Modern aerial wars are usually over in days, if not hours.
Photo credit: Associated Press
