antecdote: republican insight on base closures.

[Sub Atomic]

this evening at dinner, an anesthesiologist frine of mine told me that today in the operating room, one of the republican surgeons he works with brought up the fact that the states with base closures have at least one democrat senator.

the states with two republicans were spared.

larger states like california were also spared.

this was a very, very political move.

do not allow that aspect of all of this to go unnoticed.



edit: changed subject and modified 1st paragraph to incorporate original subject verbiage

[PittLib]

1. We have two Repubs in PA ...

and we weren't spared ... in fact Santorum is using it to gain favor, as is Rep Melissa Hart. :puke:

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. Very interesting observation. Please change your thread title to give some

idea of this - I'm afraid many people will miss it otherwise.

[Sub Atomic]

8. how's that?

i'm not very good at these things.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. much better, thanks!

:thumbsup:

From the comments, it's not an absolute rule. Would be interesting if someone made a table comparing base closings state by state with Blue/Red status of members of Congress, reported 2004 voting margin, and number of electoral votes.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. Texas has a few. Both senators are repukes.

But I gather Bush and the pentagon didn't worry about Texas knowing that they'll vote republican no matter what.

[QC]

4. Alabama has two GOP senators and five GOP reps.

So much for that particular tinfoil hat theory.

[Sub Atomic]

6. it's not a tinfoil hat theory.

it was a comment made in surgery by a republican surgeon.

let me correct my initial statement: if you look at the majority of base closings, they happen to be in states which have no republican senators.

happy now?

[QC]

11. Why so pissy?

You passed along a rule with about a hundred exceptions and I pointed out one of them.

If you're going to get all discombobulated everytime someone disagrees with you, perhaps you shouldn't be posting in a public forum.

[anitar1]

5. Calif. has 11 closures scheduled,

but most are Guard or Reserve unit facilities, One an ammunition depot. I was really surprised to see that Hawthorne, NV ammo storage base will be closed. Anyone remember that tons of ammo is buried out there? Scary. The ammo bunkers cover miles of space.

[merh]

7. Mississippi has two repuke senators and there are 2 of our bases

on the list.

The trick is to look at the location of the bases. Vicksburg Army Reserve base, is that on the river and is that land a potential location for a new casino???

The Pascagoula Navy Home Port, (Trent Lott's home town), is that prime location for oil and/or a natural gas refinery?

The state is in the process of passing laws to allow for natural gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, south of the State. Hmmm, is our repuke gov working with the corporations, is Trent in on the dealings?

The threat of base closures is a tool, used to keep the other congress critters in line. DLC congressman Taylor, if you vote with me us on the bankruptcy reform legislation or on the this legislation or that legislation, we will work to keep the base open. Got a deal?

Yes, it is political. Why else would you close a base during war time?

[Sub Atomic]

9. motorcycle.

the states with republican senator(s) will get their bases spared after their hard work lobbying others to help them keep their base in their communities.

on the other hand, the states with democrat senators will be shit out of luck. their bases will be closed; damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

but what do i know? i'm just a dweeb.

[merh]

13. Oh, I get your drift

Only repukes will be able to save their bases. :crazy:
You might be right, but I think we need to watch to see how corporations can benefit from the base closures, how they can use or abuse the land.

[Lexingtonian]

12. oh, I dunno

In the bluest of Blue States, we "lost" a polluted, minimally used, air base given over the National Guard that land developers are salivating over- Cape Cod real estate people would and perhaps will literally die for. Closed a depot or two, and got expansion of one or both other air bases in the state- for a total number of jobs lost near nil, or a gain.

Dammit, those enormously rumbling C-5As and C-17s and endless slew of small military corporate jets are going to keep on lifting off and circling by over my house at 4 AM for years to come....

Actually, the longer I look at the list the more rational it appears to me. The Cold War in the North Atlantic is over, there isn't rationale for a militarized New England except as stopover for military air traffic to Europe and the Middle East. I guess the one compensation for the Groton and Plymouth naval bases closing is that Trent Lott also loses all those cut-rate shipyards and bases he's been keeping subsidized in Pascagoula.

As for all the training grounds getting moved to the South and Southwest, the generals have been complaining for a long time that the ones they had in the North and Northwest were too small and had seasons that were too short and, for woodland/marsh fighting as in Central and Eastern Europe, too dry and too slow to regenerate.

[Nothing Without Hope]

14. Here are some job loss numbers and a MARKED MAP from the LA Times

The overall shift is to the South, which is of course the great GOP stronghold. (They had to work harder to steal midwestern states.) There is a lot more info in this story than I have given here.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bases14may14.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bases14may14.story
May 14, 2005

Military Plans to Shut Down 33 U.S. Bases

Pentagon emphasizes joint operations and realigns troop strength with a shift to the South. California would lose about 2,000 jobs.

By John Hendren and Mark Mazzetti, Times Staff Writers

(snip)

Although the planned cuts were far smaller than Pentagon strategists had forecast a few months ago, they hammered many Northern and Midwestern states and gave the military an increasingly Southern accent.

The biggest loser in terms of jobs was Connecticut, which would see 8,586 military and civilian positions disappear. Maine would lose 6,938 jobs, while the District of Columbia would lose 6,496. South Dakota would lose 3,797, New Jersey 3,760 and Missouri 3,679.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island defied the regional trend, modestly gaining 491 and 531 jobs, respectively.

(snip)

However, based on previous base closings, removing a facility from the list of doomed bases is likely to be an uphill battle. Fewer than 10% of the sites were removed in previous rounds, and no more than 15% of the sites on previous lists were altered. This time, said Michael Wynne, the Pentagon's undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, the Pentagon is intent on remaining below that figure.

(snip)

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. Because the LA Times article has so much information, I posted it in a

separae thread here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1782877
Thread title: “LAT: Military base closings will shift troops to the South- POLITICS!!!”

In that thread I linked back to this thread, since so far as I know it is the first to point out the political nature of the move.

[TheUnspeakable]

16. Ed Schultz was talking about this last Tuesday...

He said these closings were coming and that they were (in his opinion) related to the 2006 elections. i kind of didn't understand and then when the announcement was made and it was red and blue states, i was more confused-BUT when I heard that the final decision
will be made by Bush, it all made sense. They will manage to keep the Red state ones open and close the Blue state ones, but the lasting impression with the public will be that it's even.