The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Politics => Topic started by: bijou on December 15, 2009, 04:15:25 PM
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While the Democrats appease Senator Lieberman, they still have to worry about other recalcitrant Democrats including Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Though Lieberman has been out front in the fight against the public option and the Medicare buy-in, Nelson was critical of both. Now that those provisions appear to have been stripped from the bill, Lieberman may get on board, but Nelson's demand that taxpayer money not be used to fund abortion has still not been met. According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line.
Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a "naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson's vote." They are "threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?" asked the Senate staffer.
Indeed, Offutt is the headquarters for US Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, and not by accident. STRATCOM was located in the middle of the country for strategic reasons. Its closure would be a massive blow to the economy of the state of Nebraska, but it would also be another example of this administration playing politics with our national security.
link (http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/12/source_dems_threaten_nelson_in_1.asp)
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The Obama Administration...when base closures are means of political leverage and not national defense priorities.
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Anyone who is surprised by this kind of shit hasn't been paying attention.
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Anyone who is surprised by this kind of shit hasn't been paying attention.
+1
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But, can the Whitehouse unilaterally close a military base all on it's lonesome?
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But, can the Whitehouse unilaterally close a military base all on it's lonesome?
Since when have rules stopped this administration.
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But, can the Whitehouse unilaterally close a military base all on it's lonesome?
Good question. Here are some FAQs to the earlier BRAC legislation.
QUESTION: What are some of the major elements of the BRAC 2005 process and what will ensure it will be fair?
ANSWER: The process is governed by law; specifically, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. The process begins with a threat assessment of the future national security environment, followed by the development of a force structure plan and basing requirements to meet these threats. DoD then applies published selection criteria to determine which installations to recommend for realignment and closure. The Secretary of Defense will publish a report containing the realignment and closure recommendations, forwarding supporting documentation to an independent commission appointed by the President, in consultation with congressional leadership. The commission has the authority to change the Department's recommendations if it determines that the Secretary deviated substantially from the force structure plan and/or selection criteria. The Commission will hold regional meetings to solicit public input prior to making its recommendations. History has shown that the use of an independent commission and public meetings make the process as open and fair as possible. The Commission forwards its recommendations to the President for review and approval, who then forwards the recommendations to Congress. Congress has 45 legislative days to act on the commission report on an all-or-none basis. After that time, the Commission's realignment and closure recommendations become binding on the Department. Implementation must start within two years, and actions must be complete within six years.
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QUESTION: How will BRAC 2005 be different from past rounds?
ANSWER: The process outlined in the BRAC Act of 1990, Public Law 101-510, as amended, remains primarily the same as used in the three previous rounds. This process has served the Department well during the previous rounds and is designed to be as fair as possible. However, there are some changes.
Military value will continue to be an element of the published selection criteria. In previous rounds, as DoD policy, the military value criteria took priority over the other criteria. However, in BRAC 2005, there is now a statutory requirement that military value be the primary consideration.
The BRAC 2005 process requires a separate report prior to the Secretary’s recommendations on closures and realignments. In this report, which is due to Congress along with the budget for fiscal year 2005 (about February 2004), the Secretary must include, among other things, the 20 year force structure plan of probable threats, a comprehensive inventory of installations, a discussion of categories of excess capacity and a certification by the Secretary that a BRAC round in 2005 is necessary.
In addition to statutory changes, there are BRAC process changes which the Secretary directed in his November 15, 2002, kick-off memorandum, Transformation Through Base Realignment and Closure. For example, based on recommendations from the Infrastructure Steering Group to the Infrastructure Executive Council, specific common or business oriented support functions will receive analysis by Joint Cross-Service Groups (JCSG) rather than within individual Military Departments. The JCSGs are empowered to make closure and realignment recommendations for review and approval by the Secretary. During previous BRAC rounds, JCSGs developed alternatives for consideration by the Services.
Also at the outset of the process, we will identify a broad series of options for stationing and supporting forces and functions to increase efficiency and effectiveness. We refer to these options as analytical frameworks.
It is convoluted and at first glance, the president simply can't waltz in and close a base down -- particularly one as vital to national security as Offutt is.
But the fact that this kind of talk is happening at all should convince everybody that Emmanuel and his thugs will stop at nothing to get their 60 votes and surprise nobody at all.
BRAC (http://www.defense.gov/brac/02faqs.htm)
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But, can the Whitehouse unilaterally close a military base all on it's lonesome?
No. That's exactly WHY we had the whole BRAC process set up in the early 90s, to avoid allocation of defense basing by the spoils system. You can't just turn the key off and walk away, and the party in power could well change before any such closure became final, with all the retribution and ass-kicking-boot-on-the-other-foot you can imagine that would go with it, so Congress depoliticized base closure. If Rahm & O-bobo's other handlers think they can pull shit like that by decree, they are living far in the past.
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This administration is trying a self-professed terrorist and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in NY. (all so the inner workings of the CIA during the Bush Admin. are exposed)
They are capable of anything. I've never seen such corruption from the top level in such plain view.
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Well, basically what's happening here in Nebraska is that the more Senator Nelson is threatened, the more Nebraskans support him.
Benito Bo and Harry Reid are assuring the senior senator from Nebraska an easy re-election.
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No. That's exactly WHY we had the whole BRAC process set up in the early 90s, to avoid allocation of defense basing by the spoils system. You can't just turn the key off and walk away, and the party in power could well change before any such closure became final, with all the retribution and ass-kicking-boot-on-the-other-foot you can imagine that would go with it, so Congress depoliticized base closure. If Rahm & O-bobo's other handlers think they can pull shit like that by decree, they are living far in the past.
That is, if they really are that stupid. Since they are at least cunning, if not intelligent, we can explore the hypothetical on the basis that they know that as well as we do, which raises the interesting question: who leaked this, to what end, and who benefits from it the most?
If, as franksolich says, the harder the administration appears to be hitting on Nelson, the more Nebraskans get behind him, then it would appear that it is, in fact, Nelson who benefits the most from being seen to be being browbeaten by the administration on something we all know they simply cannot do, which would in turn have the effect of protecting Nelson's seat from challenge. It also gives him cover if he ends up casting a "yes" vote for whatever further monstrosity they dream up now - he can always say, "well, I didn't have much of a choice; we would have lost our base if I hadn't ultimately voted for it, but in my defense, I did make them make a lot of changes to it before I agreed to vote for it."
Just a thought.
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If, as franksolich says, the harder the administration appears to be hitting on Nelson, the more Nebraskans get behind him, then it would appear that it is, in fact, Nelson who benefits the most from being seen to be being browbeaten by the administration on something we all know they simply cannot do, which would in turn have the effect of protecting Nelson's seat from challenge.
It also gives him cover if he ends up casting a "yes" vote for whatever further monstrosity they dream up now - he can always say, "well, I didn't have much of a choice; we would have lost our base if I hadn't ultimately voted for it, but in my defense, I did make them make a lot of changes to it before I agreed to vote for it."
Just a thought.
For just a "thought," a good thought.
The problem Republicans in Nebraska have, when running against Nelson, is that he at times shows an independent streak, an anti-establishment streak (the "establishment" of course being the Democrats and entrenched bureaucrats in Washington), making it difficult for the average Republican voters to not support him.
Nebraska is a red state, but something else trumps that; as with the late George Norris, Ben Nelson is a burr in the saddle of the establishment, reminding them that Nebraska exists, Nebraska counts, and that it might be a pretty good idea to pay attention to Nebraska.
Thus far, two top-notch Republican candidates have run against Ben Nelson; high quality people, but obviously Nebraskans didn't think they could kick the establishment's ass as well as Nelson has, and Nebraskans most of all want the powers that be kicked around.
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Since when have rules stopped this administration.
Especially when it comes to strong arming Obama's policies down our throats...National Security means nothing.
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I see a lot of lockstepping.
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Well, basically what's happening here in Nebraska is that the more Senator Nelson is threatened, the more Nebraskans support him.
Benito Bo and Harry Reid are assuring the senior senator from Nebraska an easy re-election.
Hi,
I disagree. If he wants to get reelected he needs to vote no. They are working on the two idiots from Maine so he can vote no and have political cover.
regards,
5412
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I disagree. If he wants to get reelected he needs to vote no. They are working on the two idiots from Maine so he can vote no and have political cover.
Well, yes, of course, sir.
It's politics, and my comment and your comment are hardly contradictory.
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Well, yes, of course, sir.
It's politics, and my comment and your comment are hardly contradictory.
Hi,
Did not mean any offense either. One thing I like about this forum is normally people try to stay away from personal attacks. We can agree or disagree and state our opinons.
I actually opened this thread to add something. I saw on Beck tonight how they threatened Lieberman's wife and her job.
What did the guy who heads SEIU say, "We will use the power of persuasion and if that does not work we will use the persuasion of power!" Well both the Nelson and Lieberman illustrations are perfect examples of Chicago politics at their finest. What galls me is the democrats and mainstream media does not seem to care if they resort to mafia tactics. That is really scary when you think about it.
Personally, I lost a tremendous amount of respect for Lieberman. He is a spineless weasel, once they went after his wife he should have dug his heels in and say NFW. Instead he caves so that just fosters that kind of behavior in the future.
I would love to see Nelson stand up and say enough is enough and really go after them.
Any good conservatives going to challenge him??/
regards,
5412
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I actually opened this thread to add something. I saw on Beck tonight how they threatened Lieberman's wife and her job.
Gangster politics at work.
Personally, I lost a tremendous amount of respect for Lieberman. He is a spineless weasel, once they went after his wife he should have dug his heels in and say NFW. Instead he caves so that just fosters that kind of behavior in the future.
You are spot-on.