There’s an old congressional reelection trick. It goes a little like this: Convince somebody on a congressional or military panel — or even a U.S. Senator — to propose closing a military base in your district. Then you can swoop in, oppose the closing, and “save it.” You’re the hero, and reelection is that much easier a year or so later.
With that in mind, consider this story from the Tuesday Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Virginia can expect to lose some military installations in the next round of base closings, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said yesterday.
U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., said he has no inside knowledge of which bases, if any, would be closed, but said Virginia has so many military installations that it is particularly vulnerable.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission is scheduled to recommend a list of closings by Sept. 8. Congress would vote on the recommendations in November.
The Pentagon has said 25 percent of the capacity in its bases is excess. Closings could produce annual savings of $7 billion, it estimates.
Now, I ain’t saying it’s not going to happen. Heck, it may even be a good idea, from what I’ve read. Sen. John Warner, though we disagree about a great deal, is a good guy, and I’m inclined to trust him. We’ve got 100 military bases and installations which, frankly, is a hell of a lot of bases. With all that we’re spending on Bush’s war in Iraq, it’s inevitable that some domestic military cutbacks are going to be necessary.
But I’m just sayin’ that I wouldn’t be surprised if the recommended cuts were unduly harsh, just so that a congressman or five can then swoop in and save the day.
Ditto for Ohio. Our political circus has consisted of the dog-and-pony show for a while–to the point that Ohio’s ill-educated and rather gullible population has simply stopped questioning because government doesn’t mean real questions and answers. It has all reduced to someone swiping at another’s actions, and then everyone “is outraged” and “strongly urges” the opposing party to “take swift and decisive action.” The result: lots of grandstanding but little leadership.