Flying the friendly skies

While our national debt soars by the trillion, and the Democrats bleat about the spending excesses when Bush was president, I thought it would be nice to offer thanks to the military. Specifically, the 89th Airlift Wing that provides "executive VIP" transport to, among others, members of Congress. The Dow must have been around 10,000 when Nancy Pelosi last flew commercial.

Recent research by Judicial Watch has turned up some official government emails by Pelosi aide Kay King, praising the military for its extraordinary efforts to accommodate Pelosi's busy, self-important schedule. In one, she wrote:

"It is my understanding there are NO G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable ... The Speaker will want to know where the planes are."

The military VIP transport version of the Gulfstream V is known as the C-37, but Ms. King can be forgiven her ignorance. After all, she's not expected to know or care anything about the military, and the civilian version of the aircraft--used by wealthy Democrat campaign contributors--is indeed designated G5.

One may marvel at the audacious hypocrisy of those who berate corporate executives for traveling by private jet when the 89th Airlift Wing has taken delivery of twenty C-37s, at approximately $43 million each. The luxurious aircraft can fly from New York to Tokyo without refueling, while carrying a dozen lucky passengers in comfort. What seemed a shameful extravagance, paid for by the owners of banks and other large corporations, apparently looks prudent when financed on the backs of taxpayers.

Here's an idea, Nan; as long as you and your favorite friends in Congress travel on personal jets that cater to your schedules and whims, don't berate others as spendthrifts for similar travel. As I noted earlier, corporate jets are paid for by the owners of the corporation (Stockholders), who have the right to introduce and vote on rules and amendments to the corporate charters. But if you don't own IBM stock, you're not paying for IBM's jets. Sadly, the same can not be said for Nancy's personal airline.