Petty bullshit...

[i]WASHINGTON, June 8 - Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho is blocking the promotions of more than 850 Air Force officers, including young pilots who fought in Iraq and the general nominated to bail out the scandal-plagued United States Air Force Academy, in a rare clash between the
Pentagon and a senior Republican lawmaker.

Mr. Craig's price to free the frozen promotions now awaiting final Senate approval? Four C-130 cargo planes for the Idaho Air National Guard.

Pentagon officials express outrage that for more than a month Mr. Craig has single-handedly delayed the careers of hundreds of officers and stymied important Air Force business for a handful of parochial planes. They are vowing
not to give in to his pressure. Calling the move blackmail, one senior military official said, "If we say yes to this, Katie bar the door." The official, like others contacted for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity,
fearing retribution from the senator.[/i]

[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/09/politics/09GENE.html?ex=1056166927&ei=1&en=c7e92643db7d6cfa] More... [/url]

What a repugnant little piece of shit.  ARFCOM Fire Mission anyone?

Probably need to verify the story with at least one other source though, considering it's from the NY Times...

I heard this on the radio this afternoon but missed the politician's name.

Larry Craig is a pro-gun Senator IIRC. But he's lost many points for pulling this BS.

I think they should withold his pay until he graduates from the second grade. Sounds like he's been studying the tactics of the likes of Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd. Very poor form.

news.google.com is your friend...

[url]http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6050983.htm[/url]

Air Force Promotions Delayed in Dispute

ROBERT GEHRKE
Associated Press


WASHINGTON - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig says he will let nearly 400 Air Force promotions go ahead if the Air Force honors its promise to put four more transport planes at an Idaho air base.

Craig said Monday that he had been promised since 1996 that the Air Force would add four C-130 transport planes to the four already stationed at Gowen Air National Guard Base in Boise, Idaho, and he has secured $40 million in construction to prepare for the full squadron.

The Republican senator said the Air Force "has told me nothing could be done to uphold its commitment" during nearly a dozen meetings in the last 18 months,

"Facing a brick wall, I placed a hold on Air Force officer promotions, as other senators have done in the past, to get the Air Force's attention and to send the message to its leadership that this commitment must be met and that I expect them to keep their word," Craig said in a statement Monday.

Senate rules allow any senator to delay action indefinitely on a nomination sent by the president for confirmation.

Sen. John McCain, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said it is "completely inappropriate to place a hold on the promotions of scores of service men and women who play no role whatsoever in establishing Air Force policy."

"Those who serve our country in uniform, many returning from Iraq, should not be caught in the crossfire of a parochial dispute," said McCain, R-Ariz.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a briefing Monday that "clearly, the president is always entitled to have a full team in place at all levels of appointments and we have to just work these issues through with the Senate."

The dispute has ensnared the promotions of 250 majors, 122 lieutenant colonels, 12 colonels and 10 generals.

That includes the nomination of Maj. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr., who was chosen to reform the Air Force Academy, which has been tainted in recent months by allegations that previous leaders were dismissive of cadets' claims of sexual assaults.

Craig's hold has also delayed the confirmation of Gen. Robert H. Foglesong - who has been selected to command American air forces in Europe - and Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war and would replace Foglesong.

A spokesman for the Idaho Air National Guard, Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, said the addition of four C-130s - a four-engine turboprop cargo and troop carrier and a workhorse of the Air Force - would help the state unit respond more flexibly.

Marsano said the senator's support for getting the additional aircraft was welcome, but the unit was not "tapping its fingers," waiting for them to arrive.

"We're focused on the mission - we're not into politics or lobbying," he said.

ON THE NET

Sen. Larry Craig: http://craig.senate.gov

U.S. Air Force: http://www.af.mil

Senate Armed Services Committee: http://armed-services.senate.gov

This type of "road blocking" is apparently becoming quite common in Congress today.  Just goes to show how utterly selfish and useless lawmakers are.  We have too many laws as it is.  Why not get rid of Congress and legislatures and use just the executive and judicial branches?

People like Craig are going to cause the force to become political, not like Clark trying to run for office after he gets out, but playing politics while on AD.

Everyone knows what happened in Rome when the military chose sides, right?

Our military kicked the 6th largest army's ass in three weeks. What would they do going blue on blue?

The "hold" is a senate rule begging for change.  Who the hell gave any single senator such dictatorial power?

I admire what he wants to accomplish, make some one in gov. keep their word, but hate the method.

I retired from the AF a few years ago as an E.  If I was an O and MY career progression was being held up by something like this I'd be pretty hot over it.  He isn't punishing the USAF- he's punishing those PEOPLE.  What a bonehead.

What a jerk. Someone need to with hold his paycheck for a while, and see how he likes it. Bet he never served too.

[img]http://www.kootenaigop.org/photos/lec_photo.jpg[/img]

[b]Mr Craig, you are a piece of crap[/b]

Umm, you think the planes might be needed more in unimportant places like, uh, Iraq and Afghanistan?

As opposed to giving his local cronies $40 million in Federal construction funds?

What a dickweed.

Send the planes and be done with it, just use money from the midnight basketball program to pay for them.

What a dirtbag

Here's the info on the good Senator:

Washington Office:
520 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1203
Phone: (202) 224-2752
Fax: (202) 228-1067

Main District Office:
304 N. 8th St., #149
Boise, ID 83702
Phone: (208) 342-7985
Fax: (208) 343-2458

Trust me when I say that lots and lots of polite but firm calls are the best way to handle this situation.  Faxes, letters and emails are too easy to ignore and they don't consume staffer time like a telephone call.  A letter takes about 30 seconds to read, generate a form response and place in the pile for the bosses signature.  Emails are even quicker.

Telephone calls on the other hand require a staffer to sit on the phone with you until the call is completed.  A quick call will take about five minutes, but you can enlarge the time by asking lots of questions about the reasons behind the senator's position and asking for other explanations.  In D.C. the only lobbying tool possessed by the common man is time.

EVERYONE please call Sen. Craig's office daily until this stupidity is finally ended.  Be firm, be polite (the staffer is not the jerk-off) but let them know that this treatment of our career military people will not be tolerated.  

SBG

Nimrod:

I like your sig line. Pretty cool

The Air Force had 7 YEARS to fullfil it's promise and refuses to do so. The senator is justified in his actions as he has shown a great amount of patience in this matter. You chicken littles are acting as though the entire military will collapse if the promotions aren't handed out.

Imbro,

I don't mind the Senator grinding a legitimate axe with the Air Force.  But I would rather not see him do it using the careers and paychecks of our servicemen and their families.  

SBG

If I were a Lancer pilot and had access to 2,000 lb bombs filled with freash dogshit, I know where I'd be flying about now. [;D]

Maybe it'd be easier for the airforce to do if it's budget and size weren't constantly being cut?!!!!!

Imbro,

Listen carefully:

HE'S SCREWING AROUND WITH INDIVIDUALS, NOT A FACELESS "ORGANIZATION."  

Thank you for your attention.  We now return you to our regularly scheduled thread...

He has been trying to deal with "a faceless organization" for 7 years now without resolution. If the Air Force cares about their own personel, then they quit foot dragging and  do what they promised one of their EMPLOYERS they would do. It isn't that difficult.

I regretfully have to agree with Imb.
400 officers get their promotions delayed for a little while so what ... 4 C-130's are not that big of deal the AF should cough em up and get on with it..

[rolleyes]

Nice!!!

Obviously the AF doesn't need an additional four C-130's in Boise of they would have put them there already!

Larry is just interested in lining the pockets of local firms that will benefit from the construction.  Gee, if they benefit, so does Larry!  Selve serving POS!!

TRW,

The construction has already been done, paid for by YOU, the taxpayer.

As a resident of Idaho I don't give a shit if there are 4 more planes here or not.  However, a  lot of you need to realize that Larry Craig is probably a better senator than most of you have.  He is a board member of the NRA and actively supports gun rights.

As far as holding up promotions, I used to work for a government contractor and almost every year congress was late in passing the Department of Energy's budget, so it was not unusual to get a measley 1-2 percent raise anywhere from a month to two years after they were promised.  So you see Sen. Craig isn't the only one that plays money games, it's politics as usual.

I'll keep Sen. Craig and you guys can have Hitlery, Schuemer, Fienstien, and others of their ilk for your senators

They can take the 4 C130's from somewhere else.
It's not like they are gonna be un-used.

I say good for Craig.  He seems like a damn good guy, and Idaho doesn't have a lot of clout in getting all the pork that other states receive.  The Democrats have been forcing their pet projects through for decades, including bases that the Pentagon wanted to not have, or weapons systems they figured they could do with out.  So now Idaho should get a little of its own, especially after the Pentagon had reneged on an old promise, and it wasn't even a campaign promise.

Idaho has a whole, what, two? Representatives in the House.   It's time they got a piece of the action.  Screw the phonies and cheats in the Pentagon.

You posters from NY and CA can shut the hell up about Craig. Like you have room to talk about politicians. I don't love him, but he sure is shit is better than anything half the states are fielding these days.

Gowen Field has "already" been built up and had the money spent due to a previous "agreement" with the Air Force that they have NOT followed through with. Yes, it's nickle and dime crap (4 planes) to the airforce, but it affects real people in Idaho.

If those Air Force officers are so deserving, then let them make changes to honor what they promised. They are either part of the solution or they are part of the problem and can suffer their leadership.

Sylvan: That trumps any argument I have.  I defer to the man in the trenches.  I hope this gets resolved soon.

Larry Craig has been a freind of the gunners for many, many years. I'm willing to bet that there is more than meets the eye in this instance. The news media has been more than willing to making the conservatives look bad in the face of renewing the Clinton-era '94 AWB.

Paraord,

I definately hold Sen Craig in higher regard then either of my two POS senators, and appreciate his continued support of RKBA issues.... but......the pork barrel politics have to stop somewhere!

Too many times we overlook negative aspects of a politicians character due to the positive ones.  What it all boils down to, is that when it comes to self serving and politics in general, it doesn't matter what your political party you belong to.

I think that the AF should stick to flying planes and that the good Senator from the state of Idaho should stick to politics. The AF tried to play politics and is now getting it's ass pinched by a politician. The AF is directly responsible for this situation. It made an agreement and did not follow through. Yeah it is petty BS, but the AF exists at the pleasure of the Congress & the President because they are the ones that decide who gets what, when and how. If you think this is petty BS, you should do a little research on how the colonies were run prior to 1776.