Let 'em Fly "Coach" or Take the Bus!

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The Military Times is reporting this morning that Homeland Security Secretary Noem is acquiring two Gulfstream G 700 private jets through the Coast Guard's budget for a cost of $200 million.  Noem had originally requested one private jet that had a $50 million price tag, and then recently the New York Times reported that through a search of public documents it had found the order had risen to two private jets at a cost of $172 million.  Today the Military Times released the new figure:  Two private jets for $200 million - four times the original request.

According to information available on the internet, the Gulfstream G 700 is the flagship of the company's line.  It is described as a luxury jet with the most spacious cabin in the industry.  It will seat 11-18 people depending on its configuration, and has a flight range of up to 7,000 nautical miles.  It's price tag is listed as $79.9 million each, so Noem is obviously getting souped-up models!

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos owns and flies around in a Gulfstream G 700.  Of course he does.  And now so will Kristi!

And Noem is ordering two - for use by "top officials" of the Department of Homeland Security.  Ain't nothing second class about our girl, Kristi, is there?!

A spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security described the purchase as being "a matter of safety."

The millions of other air passengers in America would like for our government to be just as concerned about their safety as it is about Kristi Noem's.

Right now, today, there are nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers in the United States who have not received a paycheck since the government shutdown began over three weeks ago.  That shutdown could end today if Republican politicians would agree to negotiate with Democrats over ending cuts to the Affordable Care Act - or if Republican Senators on their own simply voted to end the filibuster rule.  They could do it in fifteen minutes.

But 13,000 air traffic controllers aren't being paid, yet they are being forced to come to work in order to keep America's airports open and running.  Some are starting to call in sick, causing work slowdowns and flight delays.  Others are "burning the candle on both ends" by taking second jobs, something which could easily affect their levels of alertness and place planes loaded with passengers at risk.

Let's worry about the safety of all US air passengers, Kristi.   On an average day, 2.9 million people fly commercial in the United States.  

The median pay for an air traffic controller is $144,580 - and they earn every damned penny of it!  That figures out to just under $12,050 per month.  The cost of Noem's two luxury private jets would pay the salary of every air traffic controller in America for a month, and still have over $40 million left to put toward the next month's salary.

However, our government worries about the safety of one princess over the entire American flying public.

Fly commercial, Kristi, and not first class, either.  Get a middle seat in the main cabin where you can develop some empathy for the rest of us cattle.

Nobody asked me, but this taxpayer objects to our government purchasing luxury private jets for use by government employees.

Let 'em fly "coach" or take the bus!