No less than 30 candidates across the country are running ads that negatively tie their opponent to China. On a trip to Ohio this week, my television was flooded with campaign ads, including a telling salvo against incumbent Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy, featuring Chinese money, Mao, and the red communist flag. Anti-China themes are also evident in late-inning videos from California and Nevada to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Not coincidentally, these are races where The Daily Beast Election Oracle finds the term “China” surging in online digital grassroots conversation. In select House seats in Ohio (18-CD), Florida (12-CD), West Virginia (3-CD) and Alabama (5-CD), debates about China are making up more than 15 percent of the total online conversation. It’s more evidence of what Joe Klein found talking to people on his nationwide road-trip, recounted in a recent Time magazine cover story: “For every occasion they raised Afghanistan, they mentioned China 25 times.”
For Democrats like Joe Sestak and Barbara Boxer, associating Republican opponents Pat Toomey and Carly Fiorina with China is way of putting laissez-faire free-trade capitalism on trial, a tactic popular with the labor unions who are funding much of the last-minute election push and TV efforts. This reflects a growing neo-protectionist impulse that resonates in areas that have been economically decimated by the exodus of manufacturing jobs since the 1980s.
For Republicans, distrust of China is a proxy for anger at unprecedented government spending under Obama that has nearly doubled the national debt. It is a core part of the Tea Party’s conservative populist protest message and has been from the beginning. And, of course, classic fiscal conservatives have been sounding the alarm about deficits and debt (especially when Democrats control the White House) for decades.
Debt is sometimes dismissed as a motivating factor around election time—it seems remote and abstract when people are anxious and angry about jobs. Nonetheless, the debt has consistently showed up at the top of policy polls at a time when many people are also expressing concern that the next generation might inherit a diminished American Dream.
The debt has consistently showed up at the top of policy polls at a time when many people are also expressing concern that the next generation might inherit a diminished American Dream.
The two issues are entwined. The world’s largest debtor nation cannot indefinitely remain the world’s sole superpower. Debt disempowers nations by constraining their geo-strategic freedom. That’s why Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took the unprecedented step of calling the U.S. debt our "biggest national security threat."
An ad by Spike Maynard, the Sarah Palin-backed Republican hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall in West Virginia, features stereotypical Chinese music and images of the "made in China" label.
The American people are smart and they have grown increasingly savvy about the implications of the national debt. In the last four years, the percent of Americans who understand that China loans more money to the U.S. than vice-versa has skyrocketed from 24 percent to 67 percent of the population, according to the Chicago Council’s “Global Views 2010” survey. Sixty-six percent of respondents said that “reducing federal budget deficits” was the “most important factor in U.S. global competitiveness,” while 51 percent of Americans now consider U.S. debt to China a “critical threat.”
In this, the first in an occasional series examining tech influence in politics using MAPLight’s nonpartisan political-finance–analysis tools, the trail leads to a mind boggling, 10-year campaign in which three key defense contractors have funneled more than $18 million to the pockets of federal lawmakers, to win various military contracts, including one for what can best be described as the government equivalent of the Bat-copter.
Last year, under pressure from politicians citing spiraling expenses, the Pentagon backed out of a $6.5 billion deal with Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland to provide 28 new, state-of-the-art birds. President Barack Obama described the procurement process as “gone amok,” with the choppers projected to reach $400 million each, almost double the original price.
Now a detailed look at campaign finance records connected to the Marine One contracts, undertaken for the first time by Wired.com and MAPLight.org, shows a flurry of corporate contributions from Lockheed rivals to lawmakers involved in the decision-making immediately before and after the deal was grounded. And with a government call for new proposals for a revised contract expected next year, pay-to-play contributions to win the coveted deal continue to flow unabated, records show.
MAPLight is a 5-year-old nonprofit based in Berkeley, California. Thanks to MAPLight’s tools, which are fueled by data from the Center for Responsive Politics of Washington, D.C., we can not only track the amount of money spent, but see the timing of payments related to legislative work, such as votes, or pressure from politicians to kill an existing contract and hand it to a friend.
In addition to keeping tabs on tech-related pork and lobbying, we are unveiling today a new campaign-finance–tracking widget, in conjunction with MAPLight and based on CRP data, to help shine a general spotlight on politicians and their contributors. (See related story).
Hail to the Chief
The jockeying for the Marine One contract began in earnest a decade ago after the 2001 terror attacks. Capt. Cate Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Navy, which is supervising the stalled project, said a new Marine One fleet was “critical” to the nation’s security. Some choppers in the current fleet are more than three decades old.
Specifications for the new Marine One chopper are classified. But public documents show the new craft must at minimum carry a sort of miniature Oval Office, with two independent communications systems, including encrypted video conferencing; have at least two engines, and be capable of flying with a failed engine; and be equipped with a missile-defense system and nuclear-fallout reflector capabilities. Together, these enhancements will make it the most advanced flying machine of its type in the world, should it ever arrive.
Sikorsky Aircraft was believed to be the leading contender, having already produced the current presidential fleet, consisting of 11 Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings and eight Sikorsky VH-60N Black Hawks.
But in 2005, it lost out to Lockheed, of Bethesda, Maryland, and AgustaWestland, a European company that was building the craft along with Lockheed and dozens of subcontractors. The Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland three-engine craft, the EH101, beat out the two-engine design of Sikorsky’s VH-92, an offshoot of its H92 SuperHawk.
At the time, Navy acquisition chief John Young said Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland prevailed because they were deemed more likely “to meet government requirements on schedule, with lesser risk, and at lower cost.”
Pages: 1 2 View All
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...
Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets 'Black Guy With A Hispanic Name' Host <b>...</b>
Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...
bench craft company complaints
bench craft company complaints
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...
Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets 'Black Guy With A Hispanic Name' Host <b>...</b>
Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
No less than 30 candidates across the country are running ads that negatively tie their opponent to China. On a trip to Ohio this week, my television was flooded with campaign ads, including a telling salvo against incumbent Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy, featuring Chinese money, Mao, and the red communist flag. Anti-China themes are also evident in late-inning videos from California and Nevada to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Not coincidentally, these are races where The Daily Beast Election Oracle finds the term “China” surging in online digital grassroots conversation. In select House seats in Ohio (18-CD), Florida (12-CD), West Virginia (3-CD) and Alabama (5-CD), debates about China are making up more than 15 percent of the total online conversation. It’s more evidence of what Joe Klein found talking to people on his nationwide road-trip, recounted in a recent Time magazine cover story: “For every occasion they raised Afghanistan, they mentioned China 25 times.”
For Democrats like Joe Sestak and Barbara Boxer, associating Republican opponents Pat Toomey and Carly Fiorina with China is way of putting laissez-faire free-trade capitalism on trial, a tactic popular with the labor unions who are funding much of the last-minute election push and TV efforts. This reflects a growing neo-protectionist impulse that resonates in areas that have been economically decimated by the exodus of manufacturing jobs since the 1980s.
For Republicans, distrust of China is a proxy for anger at unprecedented government spending under Obama that has nearly doubled the national debt. It is a core part of the Tea Party’s conservative populist protest message and has been from the beginning. And, of course, classic fiscal conservatives have been sounding the alarm about deficits and debt (especially when Democrats control the White House) for decades.
Debt is sometimes dismissed as a motivating factor around election time—it seems remote and abstract when people are anxious and angry about jobs. Nonetheless, the debt has consistently showed up at the top of policy polls at a time when many people are also expressing concern that the next generation might inherit a diminished American Dream.
The debt has consistently showed up at the top of policy polls at a time when many people are also expressing concern that the next generation might inherit a diminished American Dream.
The two issues are entwined. The world’s largest debtor nation cannot indefinitely remain the world’s sole superpower. Debt disempowers nations by constraining their geo-strategic freedom. That’s why Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took the unprecedented step of calling the U.S. debt our "biggest national security threat."
An ad by Spike Maynard, the Sarah Palin-backed Republican hoping to unseat U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall in West Virginia, features stereotypical Chinese music and images of the "made in China" label.
The American people are smart and they have grown increasingly savvy about the implications of the national debt. In the last four years, the percent of Americans who understand that China loans more money to the U.S. than vice-versa has skyrocketed from 24 percent to 67 percent of the population, according to the Chicago Council’s “Global Views 2010” survey. Sixty-six percent of respondents said that “reducing federal budget deficits” was the “most important factor in U.S. global competitiveness,” while 51 percent of Americans now consider U.S. debt to China a “critical threat.”
In this, the first in an occasional series examining tech influence in politics using MAPLight’s nonpartisan political-finance–analysis tools, the trail leads to a mind boggling, 10-year campaign in which three key defense contractors have funneled more than $18 million to the pockets of federal lawmakers, to win various military contracts, including one for what can best be described as the government equivalent of the Bat-copter.
Last year, under pressure from politicians citing spiraling expenses, the Pentagon backed out of a $6.5 billion deal with Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland to provide 28 new, state-of-the-art birds. President Barack Obama described the procurement process as “gone amok,” with the choppers projected to reach $400 million each, almost double the original price.
Now a detailed look at campaign finance records connected to the Marine One contracts, undertaken for the first time by Wired.com and MAPLight.org, shows a flurry of corporate contributions from Lockheed rivals to lawmakers involved in the decision-making immediately before and after the deal was grounded. And with a government call for new proposals for a revised contract expected next year, pay-to-play contributions to win the coveted deal continue to flow unabated, records show.
MAPLight is a 5-year-old nonprofit based in Berkeley, California. Thanks to MAPLight’s tools, which are fueled by data from the Center for Responsive Politics of Washington, D.C., we can not only track the amount of money spent, but see the timing of payments related to legislative work, such as votes, or pressure from politicians to kill an existing contract and hand it to a friend.
In addition to keeping tabs on tech-related pork and lobbying, we are unveiling today a new campaign-finance–tracking widget, in conjunction with MAPLight and based on CRP data, to help shine a general spotlight on politicians and their contributors. (See related story).
Hail to the Chief
The jockeying for the Marine One contract began in earnest a decade ago after the 2001 terror attacks. Capt. Cate Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Navy, which is supervising the stalled project, said a new Marine One fleet was “critical” to the nation’s security. Some choppers in the current fleet are more than three decades old.
Specifications for the new Marine One chopper are classified. But public documents show the new craft must at minimum carry a sort of miniature Oval Office, with two independent communications systems, including encrypted video conferencing; have at least two engines, and be capable of flying with a failed engine; and be equipped with a missile-defense system and nuclear-fallout reflector capabilities. Together, these enhancements will make it the most advanced flying machine of its type in the world, should it ever arrive.
Sikorsky Aircraft was believed to be the leading contender, having already produced the current presidential fleet, consisting of 11 Sikorsky VH-3D Sea Kings and eight Sikorsky VH-60N Black Hawks.
But in 2005, it lost out to Lockheed, of Bethesda, Maryland, and AgustaWestland, a European company that was building the craft along with Lockheed and dozens of subcontractors. The Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland three-engine craft, the EH101, beat out the two-engine design of Sikorsky’s VH-92, an offshoot of its H92 SuperHawk.
At the time, Navy acquisition chief John Young said Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland prevailed because they were deemed more likely “to meet government requirements on schedule, with lesser risk, and at lower cost.”
Pages: 1 2 View All
bench craft company complaints
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...
Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets 'Black Guy With A Hispanic Name' Host <b>...</b>
Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...
Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets 'Black Guy With A Hispanic Name' Host <b>...</b>
Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride
Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.
Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Oct. 27 <b>...</b>
Investors and traders in China's main financial district are talking about the following before the start of trade today: Shares in automaker Hong Kong-listed BYD tanked by 9% after the company said profit fell by 99% in the third ...
Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets 'Black Guy With A Hispanic Name' Host <b>...</b>
Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...
bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints
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