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Is it campaign rhetoric or willSen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.),the Democratic presidential nominee,cut spending on contractors?He said he would cut contractspending by 10 percent as part ofhis strategy to revive the economyand have the federal governmenttake more responsibility."The only way we can do allthis without leaving our childrenwith an even larger debt is ifWashington starts taking responsibilityfor every dime that itspends," the Associated Pressquoted Obama as saying.The contracting lessonscontinue to pile up for the AirForce's $40 billion aerial tankerdeal. The Defense Departmentsaid the controversial procurementis too complex and importantto be resolved this year. Adecision on whether Boeing Co. ora Northrop Grumman Corp./EADSteam will build the tanker will fallto the next administration.The Northrop/EADS team hadwon the contact, but Boeingprotested, saying the Air Forcetreated the winning team morefavorably. The GovernmentAccountability Office agreed andtold the Air Force to start over. Boeing continuesto build its servicesbusiness by creating theDefense and GovernmentServices Division in its IntegratedDefense Systems unit. The newdivision will focus on technologyservices.It is the fifth division in BoeingIDS' Global Services and Supportunit. Greg Deiter will lead the4,400-employee division. Dell Inc.wants to get out of the manufacturing businessand is looking for a buyer forits plants, the Wall StreetJournal has reported.Citing sources familiarwith the situation, the newspapersaid Dell hasapproached numerous overseascontract computer manufacturersand is hoping tosell most, if not all, of its factorieswithin 18 months.Rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. switched to contractmanufacturers yearsago, the newspaper articlestates. As part ofits acquisition of EDS Corp.,HP said it would cut 24,600jobs in the next three years.The cuts represent about 7.5percent of each company.About half the cuts willaffect workers in the UnitedStates.The goal is to "betteralign the combined company'soverall structure andefficiency with the operatingmodel that HP has successfullyimplemented in recentyears," the computer makersaid in a statement. ScienceApplicationsInternational Corp.broke the $1 billion mark forits NASA Information Technology Services contractwhen it nabbed an11-month, $212 millionextension in September.The San Diego-basedcontractor will continueto furnish IT services toNASA centers, headquarters,and internationalsites and networks. Witha noncompete agreementset to expire Nov. 24,Affiliated ComputerServices Inc. is preparingto step up its activity inthe federal market (seerelated story, Page 50.)Under a 10-year,$5.6 billion contract,Lockheed Martin Corp. willoversee the inventory anddistribution of automotiveparts used on all U.S. militaryground vehicles forthe Defense LogisticsAgency. TheSpace and Naval WarfareSystems Command wantsto build an intelligencenetwork that will connectcommand centers andfleet task forces.The Navy will use alimited competitionbecause of securityrestrictions for theDistributed CommonGround System-NavyPrime Mission Productcontract. When aSenate bill to reauthorizethe 2002 E-GovernmentAct hit a sudden andunexpected snag, severalgovernment IT initiativeswere put on hold or inlimbo.The bill was expectedto pass easily, but Sen.Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)attached an amendmentwith controversial newrequirements for protectingpersonal informationand restricting the role ofdata brokers.Efforts to move theamendment to anotherbill proved unsuccessful,leading to a deadlock,sources said.These news storiesreceived the mosttraffic on WashingtonTechnology's Web sitefrom Sept. 1 throughSept. 29.