Not So Quick California -
The U.S. Defense Department canceled competitive bidding on a $35 billion
air tanker contract, allowing the next administration to pick between rival bids
from Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corp. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates
said the "cooling off" period will allow the decision to be made "objectively."

                                       


If you recall, this elongated contract process of selecting a bid to replace the
Air Force’s aging fleet of KC-135 refueling aircraft has taken on a life of its own. 
If you remember it was announced by the Air Force that California based Northrop
Grumman was awarded the winning bid.  However, then Boeing countered saying
that due to changes in the bid requirements, their bid was not correctly reviewed. 
They demanded and received an audit by the federal Government Accountability
Office, GAO.  The GAO detailed significant errors the Air Force had made in the
original award.   The GAO’s conclusion was that had the mistakes not been made,
it might have lead to Boeing receiving the contract. 

 
                             
   
The Pentagon took over the bid process from the Air Force and conducted a limited
re-bid that examined 8 issues where the government auditors found problems in the
initial bid.

For California, specifically southern California, that means the potential loss of 7,500 jobs.