Political Discussions
Coach class for Congress?
Posted by anticsrocks • 8/11/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: congress, gulfstream 550, house appropriations committee, private jets
Okay, so when GM, Chrysler and Ford did it - BAD!!
""It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York.
"Couldn't you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?" Ackerman asked the executives at a hearing held by the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.
Even Democrats who said they were sympathetic to the automakers' plight expressed frustration that the executives used private jets while professing ruthless cost-cutting measures.
"I don't know how I go back to my constituents and say the auto industry has changed if they own private jets which are not only expensive to own, expensive to operate and expensive to fly here, rather than to have flown commercial," said Rep. Brad Sherman, a California Democrat."
www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AI8C520081119
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"At Wednesday's hearing, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, pressed the private-jet issue, asking the three CEOs to "raise their hand if they flew here commercial."
"Let the record show, no hands went up," Sherman said. "Second, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up."
www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/19/autos.ceo.jets/
At least public outcry has forced the House Appropriations Committee to change course on this. They DOUBLED the order from 4 planes needed to replace older jets that were becoming expensive to maintain to EIGHT military versions of the Gulfstream 550.
"House Democratic leaders said Monday that they will not force the Pentagon to buy four new passenger jets used to ferry senior government officials."
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_jets_2
User Comments
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Coach class sounds good to me. Or even if they had one private plane, and like your quote says "jet-pooled" although the organization of such a pooling might prove difficult.-
Or the Military has those C-130 cargo planes with the nice little red mesh jump seats...
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but those all have duct-tape stuck all over the hull, and smell like extreme-rendition-urine now
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Ewww, lol! If you can smell it, then Harry Reid would surely hate those planes.
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*giggle*
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Aha! The elusive ninja!!
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I 'been busy. I have just short time now before I'm off again. Somehow I've managed to "adopt" 7 candidates and have had to have individual meetings with all of them to get their campaign material ironed out before formatting it for them (I was only 'sposed to be working with 2!)
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wow, it sounds like multi-level marketing, only with selling something that might result in actual utility
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well, they DID need a lot of help. I had volunteered to help the first one, and then the second, but after all 7 voiced their desire to work with me I had to start charging a small fee ($25 per person).
Oh well - they have some great ideas and I'd like to see them get elected. -
*does the math*
cha-ching!
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"Our public economy is such as to offer drudgery and subsistence only to those entrusted with its administration, a wise and necessary precaution against the degeneracy of the public servants." --Thomas Jefferson
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