BOEING BAILOUT

The horrifyingly blatant proposed $30 billion bailout of Boeing at the expense of lawmakers and government officials who may or may not have secured comfortable, cushy and lucrative jobs with the aerospace giant continues to reek.

The Washington Post writes in an editorial that "negotiations were rigged in Boeing's favor by an Air Force procurement official as a 'parting gift' just before she took a $250,000-a-year job at the company."

Lawrence Di Rita, that classy guy who serves as Defense Department spokesman, during a meeting that Donald Rumsfeld attended, actually said his comments "were brought to you by the Boeing Company," according to James Roche, secretary of the Air Force.

But there's enough underhandedness to go around.

Even as she was negotiating with the Air Force about whether the tanker lease was a good deal, Office of Management and Budget Associate Director Robin Cleveland asked Mr. Roche to intercede with former colleagues at Northrop Grumman to help Ms. Cleveland's brother get a job there. Within half an hour, Mr. Roche had passed the material on to the company, noting Ms. Cleveland's key position and endorsing her brother. Then he wrote back to Ms. Cleveland, "Be well. Smile. Give tankers now (Oops, did I say that? ...).

By any sane measure, the attempts at war profiteering at the cost of an obscene amount of taxpayer money appears simple financial malfeasance.