HE JUST KEEPS WINNING:

Bush sends base-closing plan to Congress (ROBERT BURNS, September 15, 2005, AP)

President Bush has endorsed and sent to Congress a plan to close 22 major military bases and reconfigure 33 others - the first consolidation of the Pentagon's far-flung network of bases since 1995.

Bush could have sent the controversial plan back to the independent base-closing commission that developed it, but as expected he chose instead to forward it to Congress. The plan will become final in 45 days unless Congress acts to reject it in full. In all past base-closing rounds Congress has allowed it to proceed.

"This list is going to become law," said Loren Thompson, defense analyst with the Lexington Institute. "This process had created winners in addition to losers in many communities. The legislative majority required to reject the recommendation certainly isn't there." [...]

The commission said its recommendations would mean annual savings of $4.2 billion, compared with $5.4 billion under the plan it received in May from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld had recommended closing 33 major bases and realigning 29 others, but the commission decided after a series of hearing to modify his plan. [...]

Congress reluctantly authorized this round of closures only after the White House threatened to veto an entire defense bill if it did not give the Pentagon the go-ahead.