It's time for John Boehner to break out his favorite hankie. The emotive Speaker of the House had backed a program to fund an alternative engine for the F-35 fighter jet (to the tune of $450 million for this year alone) - and that program was voted down today by fellow House lawmakers, according to Business Week. As it so happens, the plant that builds the alternative F-35 engines is located near Boehner's Ohio district, although I'm sure that had nothing to do with his support of the program. After all, aren't all politicians against earmarks these days?
One fellow who's pretty darn pleased about the House vote is Defense Secretary Robert Gates, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell:
What's the next step? The House voted today to strip the funds for the second engine from the defense budget. Now the Senate gets a chance to strip the program of its funds, or to keep those funds in the budget.
