http://www.rollcall.com/media/37552-1.html
Priceless story about Congress ordering up three more G550s @ $65Million each. I’d like to suggest they drive a hybrid. 
Or at least fly commercial.
So how many military/govt JETS do Congress and the Administration have available to them? Let’s make a list.
2 - VC-25A (742)
5 - C20A (G-III)
2 - C20H (G-IV)
4 - C-32 (752)
9 - C-37A (G-V) + 3 on order
7 - C-40B/C (737) + 7 planned / on order
56 - C21 (Lear 35A)
4 - E4B (742)
89 Aircraft + 10 orders
What other aircraft are available from the military or various agencies. Does the Army and Navy have some Gulfstreams? When the Attorney General visited my town, he came from DC aboard a NASA G-III (N803NA). How many exec jets does NASA have? I’ve seen them use those Shuttle trainers for transport (they’re called C-11A and they have 4 in the fleet). FAA has one G-IV and one G-V, two C560XL, six Lear 60 and what other jets? Who operates that Spook GV that flies the terrorists around?
There’s at least another 18!
Also there are eleven T-43A (B737) - You might recall Ron Brown’s last flight was aboard a T-43 and Hillary had used it a week or so previously. So they must be available for transporting officials.
Help me out here, what other aircraft would be available to these shmucks?
I believe a couple of the C-40 / Boeing 737’s started life as Ford Motor Co. BBJ’s. Gulfstreams are robust aircraft with long life airframes so why doesn’t Uncle Sam buy some used G-IV’s for 20% or G-V’s for a third of the new G550s they’re ordering? Cash For Clunker Aircraft!
My suggestion of buying used Gulfstreams is not intended as an endorsement of the idea they need more aircraft.
I don’t know when getting elected to congress included the use of a G550.
This country is not far from civil war.
How can they do this when there are people STILL losing their houses to foreclosure.
No sh*t really pisses me off
It should.
The question still remains though, why do we keep re-electing these schmoes. We the voters are not speaking as one I guess 
Better yet- whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form
Who the hell do they think they are?
I know this makes me sound anti-government. I’m not I just can’t stand to see blatant corruption, especially when corruption lead us to a recession.
Nothing makes you want to throw up more than watching senators on TV lambasting the GM execs for using private jets, one of them being the guy you flew to the Superbowl this year more than likely on the taxpayers dime. These people need to go NOW!
Wait til you see the corruption that “gets us out” of this recession. A trillion dollar money grab, and you ain’t gettin sh*t! But your elected officials and their college buddies are gonna live high on the hog, til China stops financing their debt party.
My philosophy when it comes to voting in people is to never vote for people who have been in more than 2 or 3 terms and to vote for the best person that is running against the incumbent. As a result, my voting record is almost spotless: the people I vote for don’t win the election because the majority of people have been hoodwinked by the incumbents. How else but calling it hoodwinked can you explain why Pelosi, Boxer, Byrd, Stark, and hundreds of other idiots are still in office?
I have a question regarding the cost of these aircraft. The article claims that the aircraft are $65 million each. It later says that congressional G550 aircraft are outfitted in a more “modest” configuration, without the miscellaneous cabins, temperature zones, etc. Controller.com has a G550, a 2008 model with only 42 TT, listed for $46,500,000. A 2010 delivery position is listed at $44,250,000. I’m just wondering, why the extra $18 million or so?
Payback of campaign money donated by companies.
I was wondering why the U.S. Government, probably the biggest single entity Gulfstream customer, would pay 100% list price for an airplane with diminishing demand. No one has ever paid retail for any airplane EVER, why the Air Force??? Pretty fishy, how many Georgia and Wisconsin Senators are voting for this?
The buy is now up to eight birds/$500MM: 3 GLF5 and 5 B737.
*The Pentagon sought to buy one Gulfstream V and one business-class equivalent of a Boeing 737 to replace aging planes. The Defense Department also asked to buy two additional 737s that were being leased.
Lawmakers in the House last week added funds to buy those planes, and plus funds to buy an additional two 737s and two Gulfstream V planes. The purchases must still be approved by the Senate. The Air Force version of the Gulfstream V each costs $66 million, according to the Department of Defense, and the 737s cost about $70 million.*
It will be a Billion dollar package by the time it leaves the Senate.
Has anyone seen inside these planes. I’m curious how they’re set up. The extra cost may include maintenance, training and spares. Then again, it may just be a fatcat deal.
Anybody got information on what all these aircraft are really used for? The assumption seems to be it’s for senators, congressmen, maybe a few generals, just perks for the best of ‘em. But maybe the actual data wouldn’t say that. Just askin’.
Honestly, I’ve asked the pilots every time I’ve seen these aircraft, what they are doing here. About 70% of the time the answer is golf.
Once it was a general visiting his boat in ILM, but usually it’s golf.
But it doesn’t stop there, I’ve heard of people flying a military transport to Europe for a can of paint.
At least we don’t spend deficit money… oh yeah I forgot 
P.S. The “modest” interior is not exactly Waffle House like.
I was on base at Luke AFB one Saturday and there was a C-37 on the transient ramp. I was told that it had brought in J. Napolitano, the head of DHS, and former Gov. of AZ., …for a personal weekend trip.
She misappropriated state funds as gov and now she’s fleecing the Fed too.
You all are lucky, all I have is a mayor who wants to lay off 100+ cops and then build a streetcar named Desire with a 28+ million deficit. Of course, I’ll always have this: