President Obama’s Bizarre Support for the Brazilian Economy

Since taking office in 2009, President Obama has accomplished great things for the economy . . . of Brazil, that is.  For some bizarre reason, Obama continues to do all he can to help out workers and businesses in South America’s largest nation.

We all remember the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s multi-billion dollar loan proposal to Petrobras – a large Brazilian oil firm – to aid in the development of Brazil’s deep sea oil exploration.  And then, in early 2011, President Obama announced a “Strategic Energy Dialogue” with business leaders in Brazil that would, according to the Administration, result in the United States becoming one of the largest consumers of Brazilian energy.

Seeing the American president traveling around the globe, almost begging other nations to ramp up their energy production with billions of US dollars, is not just embarrassing; it’s incomprehensible given the extraordinary, untapped energy reserves available right here at home, especially in my home state of Alaska.

Now the Administration seems to be moving even more US dollars to Brazil.  In a little covered story from a few days ago, it was revealed that the Air Force has turned down the bid from American aircraft manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft to produce a light attack armed reconnaissance aircraft.  Hawker Beechcraft is based in Kansas and employs around 1,400 workers in 20 states.  According to the company, $100 million had been invested over a two year period in working with the Air Force in developing the its AT-6 aircraft.

The winner of the nearly one billion dollar decision to terminate Hawker appears to be the Brazilian aircraft company Embraer and their “Super Tucano” airplane.  It’s odd that the Air Force would prefer US pilots to fly in warzones in planes constructed in Brazil by Brazilian workers.  Stranger yet, the favored company, Embraer, has recently been placed under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for corruption.

In reaction to this apparently crazy deal, Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey keenly observed that, “If Hawker Beechcraft competed for the contract and lost on price and quality, well, that would be the market at work.  However, they’re not being allowed to compete at all for the new purchase, even though they already supply the Air Force and had been allowed to work on the new bid without any notice that they would be excluded, wasting the $100 million, which produced a plane that appears to have met the guidelines for the bid.  The decision to exclude Hawker Beechcraft from the competition seems curious at best.”

Perhaps Congress might want to take a closer look as to why the Administration appears to have favored a Brazilian builder for homeland-security needs over a domestic firm even before the final bid decision.  If there’s a good reason for the decision, let’s hear it.

In any event, it’s time for We the People to demand an end to the one-way transfer of American wealth to foreign nations.  Although internationalists may love the concept of worldwide income equalization, our Founders would have been repulsed by it.

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