I don't believe Donald Trump has looked at a calendar lately. It appears to me that Trump thinks it's already January 20th, 2017. Well, let me enlighten you, Donald. The President of the United States is still Barack Obama for 44 more days. Therefore...you, Donald, have no right - yes, I said it - you have no right to be cancelling contracts with The Boeing Company or with anybody else. In fact, even if you were President, it is the House of Representatives that makes and breaks deals that cost the country money...not the President. And it was the House that appropriated the funds for the new Air Force One jets.
I used part of the following sentence in an earlier column, but I find it necessary to repeat some of those words today. Trump may have ruled the roost and been in absolute control of The Trump Organization...but the person elected President of our nation...cannot do what he wants just because he says it. And he most definitely can't before Inauguration Day.
However...in an early morning tweet on Tuesday, December 6th, 2016, Trump wrote, "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future Presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4-billion. Cancel order!"
After his social media message, Trump surprised reporters at Trump Tower and remarked, "We want Boeing to make a lot of money...but not that much money."
As with much of what has come off Donald Trump's tongue over the last year-and-a-half...expressing facts are not his strong suit. As for the new Air Force One jets, Trump apparently dreamed up the price tag of four-billion dollars from somewhere in fantasy land. A Boeing official told CNN on Tuesday, "We are not sure where he is getting that number from." And White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says, "The statistics that have been cited (by Trump), shall we say, don't appear to reflect the nature of the financial arrangement between Boeing and the Department of Defense."
We all know that Trump made dictatorial comments during the campaign, but he cannot do it now and certainly not come January 20th. And speaking of that date, Trump needs to stop his so-called "victory tour" and he needs to put an end to his tweeting. He should be focusing all of his efforts on a smooth transition from a first-class Obama Administration to whatever will be under Donald Trump.
Does Trump have an ulterior motive for his slam against Boeing? Of course he does. Let's remember that the aircraft manufacturer does a tremendous amount of business with China. Therefore, it can't be a coincidence that Trump tweeted just minutes after The Chicago Tribune published remarks from Boeing's chief executive officer, Dennis Muilenburg, where he implied that Trump's trade policies could do harm to Boeing's relationship with the Asian nation.
Currently, there are two Boeing 747-200 jets that serve as Air Force One for President Obama. Those airplanes, though, are very old...as they were ordered during the 1980s when President Ronald Reagan was The White House occupant. The aircraft were first flown in 1990 with President George H. W. Bush on board... thus the Presidential jets need to be upgraded. The new planes - two, possibly three Boeing 747-800 jets - that are being built as Air Force One...aren't scheduled to take flight until sometime in 2023 or 2024. Boeing says those 21st century generation planes will be equipped with updated communications systems, anti-hacking defenses, anti-missle defenses, electronic countermeasures and an assortment of classified "bells and whistles" that will protect whomever is President and Commander-In-Chief while he or she is in the air.
Donald Trump shouldn't be making threats to Boeing or to any U.S. company. Somebody in Washington, DC needs to sit Trump down - sooner rather than later - and explain to him the rules of the game. Congress has the power to control our nation's purse strings...not the President. But who knows? Perhaps Donald Trump has never read the U.S. Constitution. I guess I should remind him...we live in the United States of America...not the United States of Trump.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
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We have been dealing for almost eight years with a President that believed that we live in the United States of Obama. We have had well over a dozen Supreme Court decisions that have ruled against President Obama for executive overreach. You can use FactCheck to verify my statement. Whether it was the recess appointments at the NLRB or the Dream Act, the list goes on and on. President Obama has bypassed Congress time and time again. You stated “As for the new Air Force One jets, Trump apparently dreamed up the price tag of four-billion dollars from somewhere in fantasy land” well maybe you do you blog in fantasy land. According to FactCheck.org “The Air Force has published a budgetary document that says research, development, testing and evaluation of the new Air Force Ones -- officially known as the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization -- will cost $2.87 billion between fiscal years 2015 and 2021. However, the project is expected to extend beyond 2021, and experts told PolitiFact it would likely require another $1 billion in subsequent years to finish the job. The Teal Group has estimated that the project will require an additional $858 million between fiscal years 2022 and 2026.That adds up to a grand total of $3.73 billion over 12 years. That’s not "more than $4 billion," as Trump said, but it’s reasonably close -- and it’s no secret that defense contracts have a history of escalating in cost over time. So as a raw number, Trump’s $4 billion figure is in the ballpark.” I know you hate Donald Trump but try and be fair, you claim to be a journalist so at like one, stop with the lies and the hate! I don’t know of any “threats” President-elect Trump has made to Boeing or any other U.S. company. I think President-elect Trump knows the “rules of the game” but he will be as they say “there’s a new sheriff in town” and will be playing the game a lot differently then it has been played in the past.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to comment on your nonsensical remarks about President Obama except to say that Mr. Obama has been the President for ALL Americans. Unless proved differently, I don't believe Donald Trump will be. President Obama was not allowed by Congress to achieve numerous goals because the Republicans in Congress - especially Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell - had it out for the President since day one. McConnell even admitted on day one that he was going to make it his priority - no matter what it cost the country - to make sure President Obama was a one-term President and that he would not be successful. Well McConnell failed at both. The President was elected twice and history will prove that Barack Obama will be ranked as one of the greatest Presidents of the United States...and deservedly so...despite the Republicans bigoted ways. Oh yes, I said...bigoted ways. Nobody can ever debate the fact that certain members of Congress wanted President Obama to fail because he is black.
DeleteAs for Donald Trump's Air Force One tweet and subsequent remarks, I too saw and heard reports with the numbers you noted in your comments, but again, those amounts are not conclusively correct. Boeing officials say it currently has a contract with Uncle Sam for 170-million dollars. The official told CNN that not even Boeing can estimate the cost of the Air Force One project right now since (and as I noted in my column), "the Pentagon has not even decided all the bells and whistles it wants on the new Air Force One." So, without knowing all those security features, it would be impossible to estimate the cost. Furthermore, since there may be two jets built as Air Force One...or three...the price tag could be higher or lower. Even The White House says the four-billion-dollar number is not accurate.
Stop with your "I know you hate Donald Trump" lunacy. I DON'T HATE DONALD TRUMP. I DON'T HATE ANYBODY. You, on the other hand, must be a hater of all Democrats, all progressives and liberals, all supporters of President Obama, President Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton, etc., etc., etc.
How can you make a ridiculous statement like "I don't know of any threats Trump has made to Boeing or any other U.S. company."? He threatened Boeing with his "cancel order." Plus - and you didn't dispute the following - Trump needs to stop tweeting and he needs to stop thinking he's President. Barack Obama is President until 12 noon on January 20th.
Your "there's a new sheriff in town" comment is ludicrous. Our government was created with three parts of government. As I said in my column, Congress controls the purse strings. Trump is going to be knocked on his butt when he thinks he can do some of the things he wants to do...and can't. GBD
In 2009 President Obama canceled the Lockheed contract for new Marine One helicopters, not Congress, the Secretary of Defense on the Presidents orders canceled it. As for the $4,000,000,000 check FactCheck.org. Your comments about racism is the standard excuse from the left why there policies failed and why the Obama Presidency will go down as a failed administration. I don't hate anyone that you mentioned I hate much of what they stand for but I don't hate them personally. You on the other hand going by what you write must have a heart filled with hate and people like you are why this country is so divided. Please get some love in your heart and help unite this country behind our soon to be new President.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama's spokesperson - White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest - says the 4-billion-dollar figure doesn't "appear to reflect the nature of the financial arrangement between Boeing and the Department of Defense." I trust President Obama.
DeleteI have to laugh at your comment implying a lack of racism towards President Obama. It's obviously the truth. Nevertheless, history will rank President Obama as one of our nation's greatest Presidents.
As for my heart, it is always filled with love.
GBD