MORE ON CONGRESS'S NEW LUXURY JET

instapundit ^ | November 21, 2007 | Glenn Reynolds

[george76]

"One final thought: the delivery of a new 'junket jet' for Congress may infuriate a lot of taxpayers, but there's a method in Boeing's apparent madness.

Winners of the KC-X and CSAR-X contracts will be announced early next year, and by delivering the C-40 now (just in time for Christmas holiday 'fact-finding' trips), the aircraft giant hopes that some of its Congressional friends will pressure the Air Force to steer those contracts toward Boeing."

"Since congress's new luxury jet is part of the military appropriations and with congress not funding the military as the president requested, the jet should be the first causalty of the reduction in spending required to maintain support for the troops in harm's way...

Actually all congressional fights provided by the Air Force should be grounded. Let them all take to the airways with the regular folks and experience the problems we face.

[dcwusmc]

Could you please use tinyURL.com to help out instead of this mile-long URL?
It would be greatly appreciated... and look like this: http://tinyurl.com/27uxo6

[BIGLOOK]

Our tax dollars at work ?

The 'Work is worth its Wage' rule was suspended.

This little trick was pulled to prevent the President from making interim appointments which occur when congress is on holiday or breaks from session or in this case, overworked during their new four day workweek in which the Thanksgiving holiday falls. Webb was stellar in his performance today; will he have an encore on Friday the 23rd or will we have a debutant calling the Senate to order and adjourning posthaste for the weekend?

On the edge of my seat.....

[george76]

Democrats say no war funds , then these luxury jets should be grounded.

[Mr. Silverback]

Would we say this if Republicans were in charge now?

I guarantee I would. Let 'em fly coach.

[Lexinom]

Har har har har! Reminds me of that Gary Larson cartoon: the passenger reaches below for something and accidentally flips a switch hidden on the side of his seat from “wings stay on” to “wings fall off”.

[Doogle]

[sphinx]

Let them stay in their districts.

I take the opposite view. Most Members of Congress should travel more outside their districts. Yes, they should fly commercial, but they should go.

We're getting this backwards. What needs to be dismantled is the congressional perpetual reelection machine. We pay for them to shuttle back and forth each weekend to campaign. We pay for overly large staffs both in Washington and in the districts to answer mail and do constituent service. We pay for mass mailings, which are just campaign literature. All that needs to go to level the electoral playing field.

That said, however, I am all in favor of congresscritters traveling more outside their districts. As it is, it is very easy for Members to live in a bubble. They need to get out more -- away from Washington, away from their staff handlers, away from the atmosphere where they are the center of attention from lobbyists and constituents. Travel can be abused but the remedy for that is full disclosure.

There is also no substitute for getting out and actually looking at something you're responsible for voting on. What would you think of a general who never visited troops in the field or a corporate CEO who never set foot in a plant or a store?

[the tongue]

OK, it’s 8:33 on Thanksgiving morning, and I’m angry. Thanks.
These welfare recipient animals in Congress must be stopped from their wanton wasteful spending. How? As long as doofus America keeps voting in the same old same old socialist creations of politicians from both parties, we’ll never get relief. So how do we do it?

[June Cleaver]

I don’t know. I worked for a 3-Star GO, and we flew mostly in C-12s, and sometimes UC-35s. No one would consider a C-12 as nicely equipped. It was a decent aircraft, but the 7 or 8 seats were not nearly as nice as a coach class seat on a commercial airline. The UC-35 had 8 or so seats, and they were nice (about like a business class seat) but it was cramped, had a little tiny toilet, and no amenities. The advantage was were could get to places anytime, and we could fly into places commercial aircraft did not want to fly into. We actually always enjoyed coach seats on commercial flights more for comfort. The component commanders, Chief of Staff, and Secretaries did fly in better aircraft though. signed: Ward, June's husband.

[I see my hands]

"These are tough times"

In what regard?

[CindyDawg]

We are at war. It’s not free. If this was some social program, they could have the luxury of inside fighting but we must support our military. If it takes getting tough with the Children of the Hill, so be it.

[I see my hands]

Thanks for the specific reply. What you say is true and important, IMO, but doesn't translate into a general declaration that these are tough times.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[CindyDawg]

So I’ve been told but any time you are at war it’s tough times.

[I see my hands]

How about: critical times? Can we find harmony there?

[elkfersupper]

Yes, let them deal with TSA!

Too much effort and a bad track record - "Don't you know who I am?" syndrome.

They think they are the rulers, not the servants.

[CindyDawg]

I’m not sure what point you are trying to make. Everything doesn’t fits in a little box:’) Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving.

[Plains Drifter]

My God what next for these political “assclowns”. There is no way Congress should be able to buy themselves an airplane. They are already so far out of touch with the real world, special dining halls, special gymnasiums, credit cards for gasoline where the taxpayer pays the bill, and now their own airplane. How can these people represent the American public when they are allowed to live like Gods on Mt. Olympus?

[Army Air Corps]

"Don't you know who I am?"

Cynthia McKinney - the comic gift that keeps on giving. She is running for the Green Party nomination for President. It shows how amazingly desperate and goofy the Green Party is.

[the tongue]

“They think they are the rulers, not the servants.”

This is a very astute judgment. Thank you for your wisdom.