6: 01pm -- C-SPAN2 has live coverage again. Commission members are gathering.
6:02 pm -- C-SPAN2 says it will be another 20 minutes before the commission is ready to start, they cut away to items recorded earlier today.
6:19 pm -- It has started.
6:21 pm -- It looks they are going over ground (and votes) they already covered today but in a different way. They appear to be starting from the beginning again on the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units. Perhaps they felt they weren't doing things correctly earlier.
6:35 pm -- The Commission is looking at all units that have the same type of aircraft as a group. That is, all units having F-16s be they Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard will be considered at once. Members can bring amendments for individual units, however, before the vote on the full package is taken. Right now they are considering the future of a number of KC-135 (in-flight fueling tanker) units.
6:40 pm -- They are now considering the A-10 (ground support) units.
6:50 pm -- They are now considering the F-15 (twin engine fighter) units. F-16s, like those in the 183rd, are next.
6:58 pm -- They are taking a ten-minute break. Things are going much more smoothly and more quickly this time. The commission is essentially now where they were when they broke earlier this afternoon. The F-16s are next.
7:00 pm -- C-SPAN2 is taking calls again -yawn.
7:08 pm -- A caller from Springfield!
7:09 pm -- The Commission is back.
7:14 pm -- Commission member (and Illinoisan) Sam Skinner wants a separate vote on the 183rd!!!!!!!!!! That is a VERY good sign!!!!
7:15 pm -- They completed the vote on the other F-16 bases. The 183rd and another unit are to be considered separately.
7:16 pm -- The other unit (a Texas unit) is up first.
7:24 pm -- The amendment on theTexas unit was defeated 7-2. Gulp.
7:25 pm -- The 183rd is up NOW!
7:26 pm -- Skinner discovers his motion would be "out of order" and calls it off!!!
7:28 pm -- THE COMMISSION VOTES IN FAVOR OF MOVING THE 183RD's PLANES TO FT. WAYNE, IN. THE VOTE IS 8-1 WITH SAM SKINNER THE ONLY 'NO' VOTE.
Well there you have it. Say goodbye to the 183rd, folks.
I'm just guessing here but it sounded like Skinner wanted to move the Ft. Wayne unit here rather than the other way around. But since moving Ft. Wayne's planes around wasn't on the table, it would have been considered "out of order". That's my summation of what just happened. If true, good lord Sam, I wish you had had your shit together.
UPDATE: Here's the SJR's first take online:
The independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted 8-1 Friday night to move the F-16 jets from Springfield's Air National Guard base to Fort Wayne, Ind., as recommended by the Pentagon.
The lone dissenting vote was from commissioner Samuel Skinner, an Illinois native who visited the 183rd Fighter Wing and other Illinois bases targeted for closure or realignment in June.
Skinner said before the vote that he wanted to make a motion to move Fort Wayne's fighter jets to Springfield instead, due to the Springfield base's higher military ranking, but was prevented by the BRAC requirements from doing so.
The decision will likely end up in court, as Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Gov. Rod Blagojevich have sued the Department of Defense to prevent the Springfield jets' transfer.
Blagojevich and Madigan, both Democrats, said the Pentagon violated federal law by recommending the transfer. They contend the governor must consent to any changes in Illinois' Air National Guard bases. The Pentagon says the federal law to which Blagojevich and Madigan refer does not apply to the BRAC process.
9 comments:
People right now are biting their nails waiting for this decision.
Well it was a foregone conclusion as to the way the vote would go.
So what now?
"So what now?"
I dunno, want a beer?
You just got the gizard cut out of ya, and you're poppin the cold one's already?
I don't see how the Mrs. gonna let you do somethin that plain silly.
You off the antibiotics?
Skinner was arguing that if ratings on the bases were any measure of which base got the planes that Springfield would get them.
Yes, BRAC is devoid of politics isn't it?
After this decision I think I'll take a beer and a antibiotic.
Is there an antibiotic better than beer?
I wasn't on antibiotics except during the surgery.
And I'm not really drinking a beer. There's no reason to celebrate.
No but it might help with the pain.
OK, you talked me into it! Where's my opener?
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