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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (59095)	4/22/2006 5:44:46 AM
From: shades	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Egypt fell, athens fell, rome fell, the aztecs, the spanish, and the UK fell too - now who will have the big guns in the future - that is who gets the cheapest oil eh? All this silly talk of fair bidding wars - you don't really believe that do you - its never been that way - never will be eh? Sometimes kirk had to whip out the big phasers to get compliance and beat officer sulu into the ground. jhaha boston.com "There are probably more people from the submarine industry working at Foxwoods Casino than along the waterfront in Groton," he said. Given China's growing military might and the vital role subs play in electronic eavesdropping, a compelling case can be made for maintaining a strong sub fleet, said Thompson. But he warned the Navy needs to do a better job of managing key contractors such as Electric Boat, which he considers the world's "most capable" sub producer. "The Navy seems to assume the shipyards will always be there," he said. The Connecticut congressional delegation plans an aggressive lobbying campaign once Congress returns from its spring recess later this month and begins writing defense spending authorization bills. The state's lawmakers will seek hundreds of millions of dollars for additional design work that could put engineers to work at Electric Boat. "That's the big push," said Dodd. Without such critical design work, they said, the prospect for future sub construction is bleak. The delegation also plans to step up long-standing efforts to convince the Navy to double sub production to two ships per year. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., warned that unless production is doubled, the current fleet of 53 subs would slip below 48 in six years. "That's a dangerous place to be, particularly with other nations increasing submarines - particularly China, which is building more, and better, submarines each year," said Lieberman. Electric Boat also faces pressure from the Navy to reduce production costs from about $2.4 billion to about $2 billion for each sub. The company said the only way it can meet the Navy's lower price tag is if production is increased to two ships per year. Simmons, meanwhile, is pushing for the successful completion of a stalled deal for Taiwan to buy eight diesel-powered submarines from the U.S. He frames the argument in national security terms, saying America risks losing its submarine dominance if it lets design and production slip. "If we let that go, we are making a huge mistake for the future of the Navy," he said.