"Hey! Buddy! Gimme some money."
"Um, okay. Please give me some money?"
"What, are you going to make me beg?"
As a matter of fact, that's exactly what General Electric
Now, maybe Congress took pity on GE. Maybe it just recognized a good deal when it saw it. Whatever the reason, last week the House Armed Services Committee voted 54 to 5 to let GE keep building the alternate F-35 engine on its own dime, for the next two years.
Foolish takeaway
The U.S. taxpayer comes out of this a winner. GE has basically volunteered to "keep United Technologies
As an added bonus, GE may win even bigger. Its Hail Mary pass struck home, and it's now got two extra years in which to lobby Congress to pay for the engine.
And wouldn't you know it? We get a new Congress in 2013.
Will GE ultimately wear Congress down and close the deal? Add it to your Watchlist and find out.