Move would save taxpayers billions of dollars 

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) once again called for the Air Force to scrap a plan with Boeing Corp. to lease 100 air refueling tankers at a cost of $23.5 billion after a report by the Defense Science Board (DSB), a Pentagon advisory panel, found that the aging of the current fleet is manageable, and other options should be examined before it needs to be replaced.  The report states that at its current rate of use, the fleet is capable of flying until 2040.  The DSB report is one of three due out this month concerning the tanker lease deal.

“All along there have been questions as to whether the Air Force really needs new tankers and why was it so quick to favor the lease deal,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “Thankfully for taxpayers, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, along with Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), questioned the logistics and ethics of the deal long enough for the truth to come out.”

The $23.5 billion lease deal is unprecedented in that federal law requires government acquisitions to be bought outright.  Such a deal would alter the way government purchases goods and would cost taxpayers money in the long run.  After the lease deal was revealed, the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting Office (GAO) found that the lease plan could cost as much as $5.5 billion more than buying the planes outright.  According to the GAO, the cost to upgrade, modernize, and repair planes the Air Force already owns would be approximately $3.2 billion.  The DSB report found “there is no compelling or financial reason to initiate a replacement program” until the modernization of the current fleet and other alternatives were evaluated.  One such option would be to re-engine the planes, a move that would also increase fuel efficiency.

“The lease deal is expensive, unnecessary, budget busting and scandalous.  It should be tanked because it is simply a waste of money,” Schatz continued.  “As more reports are released and ethical violations come to light, this is proving to be the worst example of corporate welfare and back-room deal-making in recent memory.”

Over the course of the last three years, CAGW has worked tirelessly to block the lease deal.  Efforts have included mobilizing more than 7,500 members of CAGW’s lobbying arm, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, to sign a Citizens Declaration against the lease deal, and another 3,500 members faxed letters of opposition to House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-Ill.) office.

“Hopefully the lease plan has finally met its demise,” Schatz concluded.  “The Air Force needs to find the most effective and efficient way to meets its need for refueling tankers, one that will benefit taxpayers and more importantly the military personnel serving our country.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.