House Majority Leader Eric Cantor doesn’t like the President’s budget. In news reports, Cantor is quoted as saying that it “’doubles down on the bad habits of the past four years,’” and how it reflects government spending more money in an attempt to create jobs. I share Mr. Cantor’s objections. However, I do wonder if they extend to government spending in his own congressional district.

One project that will give us a strong hint of Mr. Cantor’s seriousness is the proposed second fighter engine for the Defense Department’s joint Strike Fighter.  Pratt & Whitney is the prime contractor on the fighter’s engine but General Electric and Rolls Royce have teamed to design an alternative. The reasoning is that two engine options can produce long-term savings.  But neither the Defense Department nor Secretary Robert Gates wants the GE/Rolls Royce alternative and have actively tried to eliminate it.