Pentagon to Eliminate 6000 Norfolk Joint Forces Command Jobs - Meanwhile, McDonnell and Cooch Scare Away Progressive Employers

The Hampton Roads region in particular and Virginia in general have allowed themselves to become far too dependant on the military as a means to keep the local economy afloat. Rather than embracing modernity and progressive values that might attract new high tech and green industries, Virginia's leadership in the form of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, Virginia AG Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli and the GOP Kool-Aid drinkers in the General Assembly seem to strive to make Virginia appear to other parts of the country and world as the home of rednecks, racists and homophobes. Now, the local Hampton Roads faces a major hit to the military funded economy. It has been announced today that the region's Joint Forces Command is targeted for elimination as part of the Pentagon's cost cutting initiatives. That translates to 6000 lost jobs, millions and millions in lost payroll, and a major hit for commercial real estate owners who have been leasing facilities to the military. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:
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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called for the elimination of the Norfolk-based Joint Forces Command on Monday as part of a broader effort to reduce certain kinds of military spending - especially a growing reliance on defense contractors. "The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint," Gates said.
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It employs about 6,000 people - most based in Hampton Roads, others elsewhere in Virginia and Florida. Its headquarters are at Norfolk Naval Station, and it has a command center in northern Suffolk.
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Not surprisingly, elected officials across the state and region lambasted Gates' announcement and said they would fight it, but it's not clear what they can do to halt the process. Unlike the Navy's plan to relocate an aircraft carrier from Norfolk to Jacksonville, Fla. - which requires Congress to approve funds to make Mayport Naval Station ready to host a nuclear carrier - Gates indicated this bureaucratic reshuffle doesn't require legislative approval.
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Gates' proposal for shifting defense spending has broader implications for Virginia than the closure of JFCOM. . . . The commonwealth is home to more than 12,000 defense contractors and is second only to California in military-related businesses, Gov. Bob McDonnell said. The companies that employ them have collected $341 billion since 2000, so a reduction of 30 percent over the next three years, as Gates directed, will be an enormous hit, he said.
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In Suffolk, the command has been a powerful engine driving local economic development. Hundreds of military and civilian employees work at its north Suffolk campus, a 640,000-square-foot facility leased for an estimated $16 million. Hundreds more are employed by defense contractors working nearby.
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I'm not sure what it will take to educate Virginia's leaders that rampant anti-gay initiatives, AG opinions authorizing the random stopping of suspected immigrants, and far right Christianist extremism forming the state's laws do not a make for an image that will be attractive to many companies that might be seeking to relocate (either too or from Virginia). Some of the leadership in Hampton seem to be figuring it out, but the lesson is totally lost on McDonnell, Cuccinelli, the GOP controlled House of Delegates and local Congressman like Randy Forbes and Rob Wittman.