Subject: Vote NO on Boeing Lease
In brief: the Pentagon is trying to rush through a leasing deal for a bunch of planes, and the lease actually looks like it will probably cost more than it would cost to just buy the planes outright. It definitely costs a lot more than it'd cost to improve maintainance on the current fleet so that they'd last a while longer, though I'm willing to accept that they may consider that too great a risk. But it's not clear that they do think that, because, well, nobody's asked!
Dear Senator,
I am very troubled by what I've heard about the Air Force deal with Boeing to lease 767s for use as tankers. I'm asking you to vote against the deal should it come before you, and to pressure your colleagues on the Armed Services Committee to do the same when they consider it in September.
I question the cost of leasing the tankers since there seem to be far cheaper options available. I question a process that circumvents a full debate in Congress and leaves the final decision to committees. And finally, I question how any Committee could make a decision without asking the Air Force to explain the alternatives.
Sincerely,
(etc)
