Today's New York Times provides the latest on a terrific example of the policy consequences of the sub governments that develop around pet projects.
It's the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor aircraft that the leadership of the Marines has been hoping to build for over 20 years. It's about to see it's first action in war this September.
Why the wait? It has a nasty habit of killing people, including 26 marines, in test flights. Opponents to the program included Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney under Bush 1, who tried four times to cut it from the military budget.
Why has it survived?
Here's the key quote form the NYT story: "But, from 1989 to 1992, Mr. Cheney was beaten back by Congress. Work on the project — the Boeing Company and Bell Helicopter Textron are the main contractors — is spread across 40 states and 2,000 subcontractors, giving the V-22 broad support. More than 100 members of Congress even formed a Tiltrotor Technology Coalition to protect it."
The project also gained influential supporters at the highest level of the Marines. People whose positions of leadership may be based on continuation of the project.
