Tiahrt has made fighting the Air Force Tanker deal a top priority. He mailed out a glossy four page phamphlet outlining his efforts to his constituents in the 4th District.
It really does look like a campaign piece, and raises the question of whether stuff like this should be mailed out at taxpayer expense when it, arguably, crosses the line into campaigning. (Boeings lost of the tanker deal will undoubtedly be used against Tiahrt in the upcoming election)
If anything, it highlights the power of incumbency to communicate with voters. Members of both parties do it, so Tiahrt shouldn't be singled out. But it does seem to test a basic sense of fairness....
(Also, it's interesting that the free-trading, competition-advocading Tiarht sounds like middle class spokesman Lou Dobbs when he states things like: "American tankers should be built by American company with American workers."
6 comments:
Former TX rep Tom Loeffler, McCain's finance chairman, lobbied for EADS and landed the deal (for Texas).
If Tiahrt wants to use franking privileges to make it an issue, then maybe he could tell us what, if anything, he has been doing to land the deal himself, or to bring any of these military contracts to Kansas.
Texas and Oklahoma have had an economic windfall from military contracts and Kansas has not. There are a number of small Oklahoma towns that have been turned into boomtowns by new factories.
I wonder why Tiahrt is a day late and a dollar short on this one? Use the free mail to explain that one. McCain's guy didn't miss it.
The other difference with Oklahoma is that small towns got the factories. Not just OKC.
Tiahrt takes anything that comes to South Central KS and puts it in Wichita, then comes to town taking credit for improving the local economy. How about a factory at Strother Field. It's time for Tiahrt to deliver one. The state funding deals apply to Strother just as well as to Wichita.
He lost the Boeing deal. He should admit it and try to get it back, but start pro-actively doing something instead of whining about the fish that got away.
He is "explaining away" why he was asleep at the wheel. Not good enough.
Maybe Kansas could hire or elect Tom Loeffler.
Are you crying because your man Betts is outmatched already?
Rep. Tiahrt is trying to do something for our state -- if he wasn't you would be crying about that.
I think it's one thing to want free trade, but another to want your defense farmed out to a foreign country -- especially one that isn't very supportive of our country. It's two different things. Quit trying to spin it.
Who is Betts? I don't care about him. I want to see Todd get out of neutral.
Funny thing is Loeffler probably thought he was doing something to further a Texas company, but in any case was just a hired gun. Imagine if he was representing an american company that intended to build something here.
We've got a big gun. Just doesn't shoot. Yet.
Don Betts is the democrat from Wichita that is going to run against Tiahrt. I was just pointing out the whining about Tiahrt's "campaign piece".
the deal was done fair and square boeing was to smug they thought it was a given because they are the only company who manufactured a boom for the fuel to be delivered well air bus got there s*** together and put in the time and effort and manufactured a better boom than the old stand by boeing had , so they won boeing lost because they didnt take it serious , or maybe they knew if they lost the government would step in and make it all better , for my peice of mind i want the best available not just the best boeing can do
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