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June 7, 2005
John Thune Update
Last week I reported that freshman South Dakota Senator John Thune (the guy who beat Tom Daschle, if you're not sure) decided to vote against John Bolton not for anything Bolton may have done, but to protest plans to close Ellsworth Air Force Base base in his state.
At the time I derided Thune for what I believed to be atrocious reasoning. Whatever the situation may be with the air base, to vote against the president and his own party on such an important issue as the Bolton nomination shows at best bad politics and at worst a willingness to sacrifice national security for political gain (votes back home).
R Andrew Newman of National Review provides some additional information
Although it is natural for a state to want to hang on to a military installation with an estimated economic impact of $278 million and an annual payroll of $161 million, local politics cannot stand in the way if national security dictates that the base must close. But, in this case, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission has some legitimate reasons to consider a reprieve for Ellsworth.The Department of Defense scored bases on a set of criteria that included current and future mission capabilities, geography, cost of operation, environmental impact, and economic impact on surrounding communities. According to the Pentagon report, Dyess Air Force Base in Texas nudged out Ellsworth 56.7 to 50.8 in the scoring.
Thankfully, for Ellsworth supporters, this doesn't appear to be a clear-cut victory for Dyess. Are there really sufficient "operational efficiencies" to warrant moving the 24 B-1Bs south? Cost should be an issue, but not at the sake of national security. The B-1B fleet is currently split between the South Dakota and Texas bases. Do we really want to have the B1-B's at one base? Thune has also questioned why the domestic list of base closures was made before the Quadrennial Defense Review and the restructuring of overseas bases were completed.
Whatever the legitimacy of his cause, Thune should be able to make it without voting against Bolton. If he must send a signal, for heavens sake, pick something less important to the nation and to your party.
Posted by Tom at June 7, 2005 8:19 PM
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