C-17 spending fails to draw veto threat

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has yet to issue any threats to veto the C-17 cargo plane even though Congress seems poised to fund it, analysts say.

Obama and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates have both voiced opposition to spending $2.5 billion to continue production of the C-17 transport, especially when $2.4 billion is being cut from a White House request for Pentagon operations and maintenance funds.

But unlike a similar situation with the F-22 fighter this summer, Obama has not issued a threat to veto the nearly $626 billion defense appropriations bill over an unwanted cargo plane, the Washington publication Politico reported.

Citing unnamed sources, Politico said one reason may be that the C-17s are made by Boeing Corp., which is headquartered in Chicago, the hometown of both Obama and White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel -- a notion that Emmanuel dismissed.

But "the entire defense industry sees the inconsistency" in the administration's veto threats, an unidentified "respected industry official" told Politico.