Shipyard is denied sub work (job given to General Dynamic co. instead)

[Tab]

PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD - A multi-million dollar submarine overhaul project has been assigned to a privately owned shipyard, rather than to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

A Navy official said Friday that the USS Hartford overhaul has been assigned to the Electric Boat Shipyard, owned by General Dynamic, despite the fact that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s workload has recently been significantly reduced.
...
On Friday, Sens. John Sununu, R-N.H., Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, issued the following statement on the Navy’s decision to act otherwise:

"We strongly disagree with the Navy’s decision to assign sub work to the private sector when the private yards, which traditionally have worked only on new construction, have stumbled badly on repair and overhaul work.

"This poor performance will needlessly cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and deprive Navy commanders of the use of a submarine during wartime. This dismal record, when compared to the record-setting work at Portsmouth, will continue to be the backbone of our advocacy for as much work as possible being directed to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard."
http://www.portsmouthherald.com/news/12112004/news/53327.htm

[Benhurst]

1. Gosh, I'm beginning to think the Bush Crime Family may be corrupt. nt

[Tight_rope]

11. Nahhhh.....they would never do corrupt things (sarcasm)

[genieroze]

24. Do ya think? eom

[Malva Zebrina]

2. I foresaw this

I see it as revenge against the blue state of Maine,possibly New Hampshire, and against the moderates, Snowe and Collins.

I suspect there is more.

[Mist]

3. Four Rethugs criticizing the * administration?

Another crack in the facade....

[Tab]

9. Not really

The four that are protesting are from NH and Maine. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard sits on the border between the two states, and workers are generally from NH or ME (maybe a few from MA).

So, despite their Republican affiliation, they're really protesting on behalf of the workers in their state (the shipyard provides a lot of jobs).

Wish I could read it as Republican rebellion, but in this case I can't.

[charlie]

4. Odd to see Bush bagman Sununu's name on that

Especially over something as picayune as efficiency and saving a few million of the public dime. Worried about base closures?

[MaineDem]

6. This is former Chief of Staff Sununu's son

We've been expecting something like this. Pisses me off though.

[Truman01]

5. I agree, I think this is a slap at NH as a blue state n/t

[MaineDem]

7. The base is in Maine

More of a slap at our "moderate GOP" Senators I think.

[ooglymoogly]

17. portsmouth is a major nh city as nh cities go

it has been a major shipping port since the china trade. it has a large inland bay with cities like exeter where bush learned to cheerleed (if memory serves) at its shores. almost a suburb of portsmouth is kittery main connected by several bridges to portsmouth and is where the naval yard is. it is about 30 miles as the helicopter flies from boston. so the shipyard draws people from ma,nh, and main. electric boat is in ct. (a very blue state) and it's parent co. gen. dynamics gave about 1.6 million to godfather bush and the pugs....the bribe that keeps on giving.

[Truman01]

18. I'm sure they are close but the address is NH nt

[MaineDem]

19. Sorry but it's in Maine

It's been a bone of contention for years. The physical location of the shipyard is in Maine - Seavey Island.

As much as NH fights to get it, it remains in Maine.

[Truman01]

20. Thank you for clearing that up. I didn't know which is why

I looked up the website. That's interesting the states fight over this shipyard?

TC

[MaineDem]

22. It's economics

Maine gets to collect income tax from anyone who earns an income in Maine. So if the shipyard was in NH all those NH residents (which has no income tax by the way) would not owe the State of Maine anything.

NH is still fighting it but, as stated below, the Supreme Court has actually had the final say in it.

We moor our boat right next to the base - on the Maine side.

[Malva Zebrina]

21. the long dispute was finally taken to the SCOTUS in 2001, who ruled:

<snip>
On May 29, 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court in an 8-0 decision ruled to dismiss the case. Justice Souter recused himself since he had worked in the New Hampshire State Attorney General's Office. In a decision that was a surprise to both sides, the Supreme Court dismissed the case by reason of judicial estoppel - a legal theory that had never been used in a case such as this between two states and had not been put forth by Maine. According to the theory of judicial estoppel, a party can't argue one side of a case in one court and then argue the opposite side in another court. Citing the 1977 lobster consent decree and refusing to grant that it dealt with a different location, the Court decided that New Hampshire had agreed that the boundary runs through the middle of the harbor and the middle of the Piscataqua River. Therefore, New Hampshire would not be allowed to present its case for placing the boundary at the opposite shore.

Snip>

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_hampshire/90121

So in effect, NH lost the case, and it is over.

[Judi Lynn]

8. You'd think conscientious national reporters would publicize this

It's a situation which has meaning for the entire country. He shouldn't be able to pull it off without WIDE public awareness.

People need to know what this pathetic ass is doing, so he actually DOESN'T have total secrecy as he works against our country's interests.



I heard there's rumors on the Internets.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. When MA went for McGovern in '72, Nixon closed the Boston Naval Shipyard

RI was 49.9% for McGovern, and he closed the Newport Navy Base and Quonset Naval Air Station. The latter is truly Nixonian revenge: he did part of his training at Quonset when he was in the service.

I guess I should thank him; this is why we moved to California...

[Stinky The Clown]

12. I see this another way

Electric Boat is in New London, CT. It is the only yard capable of building nuke boats. I'm not arguing for or against nuke boats here, but if you accept them as needed in our arsenal, it makes sense to keep the yard in practice. I have no idea if there are any new ones in the works or what Electric Boat's workload is, but I know it was in sad shape a while ago.

Also, since Portsmouth and New London are both in blue states, this seems unlikely to be "blue state revenge". It seems to me more likely to be the case made in the preceding paragraph.

[Malva Zebrina]

13. there is another shipbuilding industry in Bath, Maine

it is the Bath Iron Works, and is mainly keeping the city of Bath and surrounding communities, afloat,if not a big contributor to the economics of the entire state of Maine. Let us wait to see what happens as far as their military contracts are concerned.

then there is the Brunswick Naval Air Station, located in Brunswick Maine, which also keeps the city afloat. Let us watch if that facility will be disbanded or diminished in some way, as a punishment.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. But do the build nuke boats in Bath?

I don't recall that they do. I now they build other types of navy ships there, but I don't think they can do nuke boats.

The ship I was on (in the 60's), a minesweeper, was built in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

[MaineDem]

16. BIW is already losing contracts to Mississippi shipyards

Both Brunswick and Portsmouth are expected to be on the BRAC closure list in the spring. All of the Senate and Congresscritters from Maine have been fighting this, as I'm sure you know.

BNAS just got a major contract to build housing and another hangar, I believe. That might be a good sign that the base will have a life beyond 2005. I really fear that the writing is on the wall for Portsmouth, though. Jeez, we just finally got the Supreme Court to agree that it really is in Maine.

[newblewtoo]

26. BIW is already losing contracts to Mississippi shipyards

Yes but, BIW has been owned by General Dynamics since 1995. Portsmouth sits between BIW and EB. Portsmouth may be the oldest Naval shipyard but it is probably the most modern and would be a real asset for GD.

[ooglymoogly]

14. and even another way

general dynamics gave 2 and 1/2 million dollars to the pugs and that seems to be the godfather georges' recipe for success....the bribe that keeps on giving.

[Briarius]

25. EB's still building boats

They just finished the Virginia and laid a keel for the Hawaii
http://www.gdeb.com/news/news.html#08-27-04
I've looked at working there, but it looks like it wouldn't be the kind of engineering I'd want to do.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. Are you in New London?

EB was the only real industry in town. My wife is from New London. In HS all the guys who had any ambition and aspiration went to work at EB. The best jobs were welders and pipefitters. For the girls, they were steered into some secretarial work associated with EB. It was a one industry town.

[glitch]

23. Just some good old fashioned payola - the kind made popular by cheney

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=12

"The Secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, is a former General Dynamics executive. The Boston Globe noted at the time of his nomination that "Gordon England had no military experience, but he had just the right qualification to become President Bush’s pick for secretary of the Navy: Two decades in the corporate world." Former Pentagon and military officials populate General Dynamic’s Board of Directors, including Jay L. Johnson, Chief of Naval Operations in the U.S. Navy, Paul G. Kaminski, Under Secretary of U.S. Department of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, and George A. Joulwan, former U.S. Army Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.

Current Secretary of State Colin Powell has an interest in the company as well. He received $1 million of stock in General Dynamics, as well as more than $20 million in other corporate investments, when he joined the board of America Online.

In 2002, General Dynamics gave $1.64 million in campaign contributions, with 60% going to Republicans. So far in the 2004 election cycle, the company has given $731,725, 62% of it to Republican candidates."