The Anti-Sam Brownback Blog

Tucked away in a dark corner of the enormous Defense Spending Bill was an appropriation of $10 million dollars for the renovation and modernizing of the Parsons, Kansas ammunition plant.

Sounds like a sound investment for the future of ammunition production and Kansas Jobs, right? Well, Brownback’s press office left out one small detail… the plant is scheduled for closing. The AP reports:

“Normally you don’t spend money on a facility that’s about to be closed,” said John Pike, a military analyst with globalsecurity.org in Alexandria, Va. “It’s basically doing an end-run around BRAC.”

Brownback spokesman Brian Hart said the decision to close the plant isn’t final and the money looks toward the future.

“While it won’t be a government-run facility, it is unclear if it will be privatized, merged or closed,” Hart said. “The best way to preserve jobs in Parsons, if we can, is to make sure the facility is fully functional and necessary upgrades are completed.”

Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste in Washington, said if a private company takes over the plant after it closes, it would have an advantage over competing munitions manufacturers.

“That doesn’t sound terribly fair to the rest of the country,” Schatz said. “It also sets a bad precedent for other facilities that are on the BRAC list.”

This is a government handout to the private sector, plain and simple. Brownback may talk tough on fiscal responsibility but his actions show he loves spending just as much as his republican colleagues.

Let’s put this $10 million (tax dollar) handout in terms that Brownback can understand. $10 million could feed over 92,000 children in the Sudan for 18 months. Compassionate conservative my ass.

[Thanks for the tip from Thoughts from Kansas comments]