It is worth noting the blow to the “Military Industrial Congressional Complex”, as evinced in the vote to scrap the F-22 bomber.  And it’s worth noting the vote break down.

58 yes.  40 nays.  And voting nay — ie: for Defense Contractors:

The floor leaders of the faction in favor of more F-22s were Sens. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican from Georgia, where the F-22 is assembled, and Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, where parts of the plane are built. Joining this strange couple were such erstwhile doves as Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California, which also hosts several F-22 contractors.

And returning to service, rushing off his hospital bed, a man who really, really, really likes Pork:

Senator Robert C. Byrd returned to Capitol Hill after a two-month absence to vote against stripping financing for the F-22 from the defense spending bill. […]
The senator said in a statement that it was “wonderful to be back in the august body where I have served for more than 50 years, and to see all my colleagues who have been so supportive of me during my recent hospitalization.”
The West Virginia Senator, 91, was hospitalized May 15 with an infection and developed a staph infection in the hospital. He was released six weeks later. Mr. Byrd last voted on May 13.
After the vote, the senator was wheeled away and helped into a mini-van. His office said he is expected to “ease back into” his role as senator, and plans to ensure he is well for votes on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, health care legislation, and climate change legislation.

Good to see the old man’s got his priorities right.

The voting map I want to see relates to the standard Military Contractor tactic:

The Air Force shrewdly spread the plane’s contracts to firms in 46 states, thus giving a solid majority of senators—and a lot of House members, too—a financial (and, therefore, electoral) stake in the program’s survival.

With that, it’s pretty much a given that the two Oregon Senators voted “yea”, and the two Washington Senators voted “nay”.  Oregon lags at the end, 50th, of this “Military Industrial Complex” scheme– hence, Wayne Morse of the two votes against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, and Mark Hatfield — and probably one of the four states that had nothing whatsoever to do with the production of this “weapons system“.   The state of Washington is the province of Boeing, and the spirt of Harry “Scoop” Jackson.

The question comes with how strongly each state was tied to the contracts.  Is this a case where Connectict and Georgia in particular were strapped to this project, along with California and (I’d guess) Washington, and the other 42 states’ ties to the vote drift down a tad?

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