Previous Reports of Congressional Profligacy were Understated [Reader Post]

House doubled request for VIP jets over Obama Administration request

Four executive jets are not enough for Madam Speaker, she requires twice that number.

Opposition Emerges to House’s Jet Spree
By BRODY MULLINS and T.W. FARNAM
The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON—Bipartisan opposition is emerging in the Senate to a plan by House lawmakers to spend $550 million for additional passenger jets for senior government officials.

The resistance to buying eight Gulfstream and Boeing planes comes as members of both chambers of Congress embark on the busiest month of the year for official overseas travel. The plan to upgrade the fleet of government jets, which was included in a broader defense-funding bill, has also sparked criticism from the Pentagon, which has said it doesn’t need half of the new jets.

I should hope so.

In this time of recession bordering on depression one would hope that Congress would fly commercial, thus pumping money into the airlines, vice taking flight crews and service crews away from the Air Force in time of war.

It’s not like they couldn’t afford the money out of their own pockets.