Strange bedfellows: Kennedy and Schmidt

Yeah, the very idea is pukeriffic. But fear not, I am speaking figuratively here. Both Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Jean Schmidt (R-Cut and Run) are pushing the development of an engine for the supersonic F-35 Lightning II. At the cost of $100 million tax dollars.

The only problem is that Pratt & Whitney already has the contract to build the engine for the jet. Kennedy and Schmidt want GE to build a spare engine, one that the military does not want.

Meantime, the military has been trying to kill the project altogether, saying the tax dollars would be better spent for force protection and IED-resistant vehicles.
"For two years in a row, the Air Force has asked Congress to take funding away from the program so they can devote it to other more urgent needs," says military analyst Christian Lowe of Military.com. "And every year Congress has come back and said 'Nope. You're going to do this alternate engine program.'"

The only reason both Kennedy and Jeanie support this waste of tax-payer money is that both have GE plants in their home states.