The United States Congress has earmarked $550 million for the purchase of eight private jets. The Air Force manages the fleet for members of Congress, White House staff and military chiefs. The Air Force has requested one new Gulfstream V and three Boeing 737s. But Congress decided to add four more planes to the list.
The current fleet is made up of a 24 varied jets/planes. The earmarked increase is a reflection of the degree Congress falls now. Members of Congress are frequently invited to all expenses paid trips to foreign nations for the purposes of bettering/strengthening relations between countries. Here is a list of the top Congressional/White House staff trips aboard in 2008:
Source: The Wall Street Journal.
The status of Kuwait came as a surprise to me. Obviously, the Kuwaitis do not publicize such trips the way Israel does with making members of Congress visit landmarks; which is way I had the impression that Israel would top the list.
It is ironic that during a time of unprecedented deficits Congress would spend half a billion on private jets, because the very same liberal Congress is attacking private companies [who received or were asking for bailouts] for doing the same. The CEOS of GM, Ford and Chrysler were all hounded for flying private. Apparently tax payers funds for private CEOs is bad, but members of Congress can fly at the tax payers expense all they want. But hypocrisy on Capital Hill have been been surprising.
