Sadly, there is very bad news for a city that is located west of the Houston area. Sealy recently lost an Army contract that will result in 3,000 lost jobs. This is devastating for a small city in which the Army contractor, BAE Systems, is a major employer.
In late November and early December several progressive bloggers, including me revealed just how Texas fell victim to an impending and significant job loss thanks to do nothing, self-serving Texas lawmakers who are too busy palling around with fat cat sugar daddy donors to have given a rat's derriere about their lowly constituents.
Did the powers that be at BAE submit a renewal bid to retain the contract or did the company rely on its go to boys and girls in Washington to make it happen?
How come the Texas lawmakers in Austin and in Washington D.C. failed to notice that 3,000 jobs were about to be lost? What were they thinking? Were they thinking about Texas at all?
As Phillip Martin over at The Burnt Orange Report (cited above) reports:
Today, McCaul is blaming Washington and the Obama administration. However, there was no effective effort to save it by McCaul, Senator Hutchison, or Governor Rick Perry. It was not until after the contract was announced that any of the state's Republican elected officials began to work on saving the contract -- something they have now failed to do, and are now quickly trying to point fingers at President Obama to avoid accepting the responsibility of their failures.
John Cornyn's threat to block the confirmation of a top Army acquisition official is not only too little and too late, but the American people are fed up with the never ending Republican blocks and obstruction that are paralyzing our federal government. Go ahead Senator, block the acquisition guy and show us how much you support our troops and the two wars that you voted for.
BAE and Texas politicians should have known, given today's economy and the devastation in the Midwestern region of the country, considering the number of closed factories, the contract renewal in Sealy would have been almost a literal battle to the death. Either all involved did not have the fortitude for such a fight. Or perhaps all grew too arrogant and complacent after decades of a Republican majority in both Texas and in the U.S. Congress.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a piece about BAE Systems in Sealy and its recently lost federal contract. I had reported on an article that had been written in the Houston Chronicle about this issue.
The Pentagon's decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas' elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic incentives provided to the winning company by Wisconsin's Democratic governor.
Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the 34-member Senate-House delegation are rallying to salvage a deal for BAE Systems that could be worth $2.6 billion and sustain 10,000 direct and indirect jobs around the sprawling truck manufacturing plant in Sealy.
Houston's Channel 13 News recently reported on the grim outcome for Sealy as well.
PDiddie over at Brains and Eggs had also written about the Sealy situation on November 27.
McCaul failed to enlist Democrats in Texas' congressional delegation such as Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, to help protect the contract in a Democratic administration, says Matt Angle, a longtime Democratic operative who heads the political action committee known as the Lone Star Project.
On Tuesday, Phillip Martin over at The Burnt Orange Report wrote that Rep. Michael McCaul (TX-10) had fumbled away over 3,000 jobs in his district. The Lone Star Project revealed that indeed, McCaul had failed to advocate on behalf of BAE Systems and the folks in Sealy.
An official letter from the Department of Defense obtained by the Lone Star Project states that no record exists of Michael McCaul contacting the Department of Defense during the contract review process to advocate for BAE systems or to request fair consideration that the contract be renewed. (Source: DOD Freedom of Information Act Request, 10/14/2009 ) Additional research shows that McCaul also failed to take other basic steps Members of Congress normally take when trying to win support from their colleagues to protect District jobs.
McCaul, of course, will take no responsibility for his failure to act on behalf of BAE Systems.
The Chronicle had also disclosed that Governor Rick Perry, U.S. House Rep. Michael McCaul and top aides for Senators Cornyn and Hutchison said they felt sucker punched and blind sided by Sealy's lost federal contract.
One congressional aide said Texas lawmakers should have been more alert to the possibility of losing a contract that Oshkosh had tried to win in 2001. "It just wasn't on anybody's radar," the aide said.
Sucker punched and blind sided?!
Wait a minute. These lawmakers who had completely forgotten about the serious and potential job loss in their state felt sucker punched and blind sided? Please.
If anyone has been sucker punched and blind sided it is the employees of BAE System and the folks in Sealy who will know a new world of hurt if the plant closes.
As an administrator for a scientific laboratory at an academic institution that is awarded a great number of federal grants, I can tell you that if BAE System's executives, Rick Perry, Michael McCaul, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison forgot about the potential for a 10,000 job loss in Texas, all are grossly and hopelessly negligent.
Unfortunately for Texas, the Pentagon decided to shift an Army truck building contract from here to Wisconsin. Since 1991, BAE Systems in Sealy has been manufacturing trucks for the U.S. Army.
According to the Houston Chronicle Republican lawmakers and BAE officials were completely unaware of the threat posed by our competitors in Wisconsin.
The Pentagon's decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas' elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic incentives provided to the winning company by Wisconsin's Democratic governor.
Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the 34-member Senate-House delegation are rallying to salvage a deal for BAE Systems that could be worth $2.6 billion and sustain 10,000 direct and indirect jobs around the sprawling truck manufacturing plant in Sealy.
Good luck boys. It's kind of too late to salvage anything, including your humongous egos. If our esteemed Republican lawmakers hadn't been too busy lying to and scaring their constituents at teabagging hate fests this summer and fall, perhaps they would have time to think about the plant in Sealy. And what were those top executives at BAE Systems thinking given the tough times in which we now find ourselves? Companies and academic institutions are engaged in a near dual to the death competition for federal funding.
Unfortunately for Texas, the Pentagon decided to shift an Army truck building contract from here to Wisconsin. Since 1991, BAE Systems in Sealy has been manufacturing trucks for the U.S. Army.
According to the Houston Chronicle Republican lawmakers and BAE officials were completely unaware of the threat posed by our competitors in Wisconsin.
The Pentagon's decision to shift the production of Army trucks from Texas to Wisconsin after 17 years caught Texas' elected officials by surprise, raising questions about overconfidence, a loss of political clout and the impact of economic incentives provided to the winning company by Wisconsin's Democratic governor.
Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the 34-member Senate-House delegation are rallying to salvage a deal for BAE Systems that could be worth $2.6 billion and sustain 10,000 direct and indirect jobs around the sprawling truck manufacturing plant in Sealy.
Good luck boys. It's kind of too late to salvage anything, including your humongous egos. If our esteemed Republican lawmakers hadn't been too busy lying to and scaring their constituents at teabagging hate fests this summer and fall, perhaps they would have time to think about the plant in Sealy. And what were those top executives at BAE Systems thinking given the tough times in which we now find ourselves? Companies and academic institutions are engaged in a near dual to the death competition for federal funding.
