They can’t say so directly, given their position, but this is pretty damned blunt:
Fair enough. (tips hat)
To some degree this distills down to whether a senator should harm the country to do whatever he can to help the people who vote for him. These programs would bring in jobs. What state doesn’t need them? But holding up 70 nominations is a big nasty step to take. It is ugly politics. But can he justify it by saying he is doing it for Alabama? It is dirty politics on a new scale. But, if he gets the contracts ,won’t the people in Alabama be happy that he would fight so hard for them?
But any state that keeps bringing back Sessions can justify anything.
You have to understand how these people think. For reasons that are too complicated to explain, I was at a party that Sen Shelby attended back in the fall of 2008. I overheard him talking to a like-minded wealthy elderly woman and I swear they talked like they thought the election of Obama would be like a Communist takeover and the end of America. I guess when you think that way, no tactics are too extreme.
He’ll never do it (although I think he should recess appoint the nominees, I’m not qualified to judge the merits of the contract). If he did, the press would start screaming about how it’s such an attack on the American people to recess appoint your nominees. I can just imagine Chris Matthews somberly telling everyone how recess appointments are the biggest threat to the nation since the aliens attacked in Independence Day.
Y’know, I honestly don’t have a problem with senators fighting for pork money for their state. I (like most Americans) like it when my senators do it for me, so it’d be hypocritical for me to criticize it in others. But this? “Put money in this funding bill or I won’t support the funding bill” makes sense. “Site this project in my state or I won’t support the project” makes sense. That’s bargaining. But “site this project in my state or I’ll completely shut down completely unrelated areas of government” is just thuggery.
And while doing all that, complain about deficits.
Northrop, which was partnered with EADS in the proposal to build the tankers in Alabama has dropped out and will not submit a bid for the contract.