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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > June > 24 > Entry
UPDATED: Turner, placed on porker list, defends project as worthy
It appears U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, has filled the shoes of retired U.S. Rep. David Hobson in at least one respect: The anti-pork groups that once bashed Hobson for his earmarks now have Turner in their sights.
Take the June 24 release from Citizens Against Government Waste, the watchdog that looks out for so-called “pork” projects in authorization and appropriations projects. The group previously bashed Hobson for a gas station he sought an earmark for near Wilberforce and Central State Universities, as well as a handicapped-accessible bathroom at a park in Springfield.
This year, they tagged Turner for a $4 million earmark he sought in the House version of the Defense Authorizations Act. The earmark is for “Open Source Research Centers” for Radiance Technologies in Fairborn.
Say what?
According to Turner’s description, posted on his web-site the program will establish 75 living wage jobs in Ohio. The center’s primary focus will provide relief for federal and state government analysts currently over-burdened with dual research requirements on classified and open source information.
This program is aimed at helping the intelligence community collect information vital to national security while expanding job training and employment in Dayton.
Turner says the project is aimed at helping GM and Delphi workers who’ve lost their job find new jobs supporting Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
“This is important for our community to recover from job loss and to support Wright-Patterson Air Force Base expansion,” he said.
Turner’s earmark was lumped in with requests to build a chapel complext at Fort Campbell in Kentucky; $7 million for Marine Mammal Awareness, Alert and Response Systems and $2.5 million for whale and dolphin hearing and echolocation projects in Hawaii.
The release also lauds the fact that the Joint Strike Fighter’s alternative engine program, which received $465 million in earmarks in fiscal year 2009, received nothing this year. That may be good news for Citizens Against Government Waste, but it’s not great for GE in Evendale, Ohio: That’s where the second engine is being developed.
UPDATE: Rick Tincher, CAP chair for the Dayton Metropolitan CAP Council and a United Auto Workers official with Local 696, said the project will help a community that is struggling for jobs. He’s supportive of the project, and has worked with Turner and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in hopes of seeing the Open Source Research Center become a reality.
“This is not a Bridge to Nowhere,” he said. “This is not just finding out the breeding habits of fish. This establishes jobs from day one and training at the same time.”
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By David
June 25, 2009 8:51 AM | Link to this
Skeptic has no clue about the nature of work in this area. So what if a company is located a few miles from downtown? Does his car shut off when it crosses the Montgomery Countyline? Jobs are jobs. I’m tired of whiners.By Skeptic
June 25, 2009 8:40 AM | Link to this
If Turner wants to create jobs in Dayton, he should require that this research happens in Tech Town - not Fairborn. That’s not even the same county! Please attach some better strings to that pork, sir.