Drive As We Say …
… Not as we fly. Congress orders up three Gulfstreams for its own use. Roll Call:
Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies.
But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress.
The Air Force had asked for one Gulfstream 550 jet (price tag: about $65 million) as part of an ongoing upgrade of its passenger air service.
But the House Appropriations Committee, at its own initiative, added to the 2010 Defense appropriations bill another $132 million for two more airplanes and specified that they be assigned to the D.C.-area units that carry Members of Congress, military brass and top government officials.
The article goes on to say there are all kinds of good reasons for having small, long-range executive aircraft available for high-level military officials and government delegations. It doesn’t say why two additional ones, beyond what the Air Force requested, are needed in the D.C. area. It does, however, question why it was shoved in without discussion or fingerprints.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:03 pm on Wednesday, August 5, 2009
One Response to “Drive As We Say …”
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August 5th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
It does, however, question why it was shoved in without discussion or fingerprints.
Democratic Congress, Democratic president. Need we ask?