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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Fast track

Do as Congress says, not as Congress does:

Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies.

But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress.

[. . .]

The Gulfstream G550 is a luxury business jet, which the company advertises as featuring long-range flight capacity that “easily links Washington, D.C., with Dubai, London with Singapore and Tokyo with Paris.” The company's promotional materials say, “The cabin aboard the G550 combines productivity with exceptional comfort. It features up to four distinct living areas, three temperature zones, a choice of 12 floor plan configurations with seating for up to 18 passengers.”

I guess we shouldn't begrudge our humble public servants a little comfort. And it's important that they be able to get back to their districts quickly so they can have town meetings for constituents to tell them how wonderful they are and what a terrific job they're doing.

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