New Presidential Helicopter $400M Each!

[gprellwitz]

Well, apparently Obama's thinking that the helicopters may be a little too pricey too:

Obama said the helicopter he has now seems adequate, adding that he never had a helicopter before and "maybe I've been deprived and I didn't know it."
Obama said he has already talked to Defense Secretary Robert Gates about reviewing the program and its ballooning costs.
"It is an example of the procurement process gone amok, and we're going to have to fix it," Obama said.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Well, apparently Obama's thinking that the helicopters may be a little too pricey too:

Dangit Grant, you beat me by 13 minutes.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090223/obama_helicopter.html?.v=4

 

[Ted]

If he decides to keep the one he has rather than wasting a bunch of money on new ones, then that will make up for something.

Now, if only he could cut another $800 billion out of the federal budget, I'd be thrilled.

 

[Everskyward]

Well, apparently Obama's thinking that the helicopters may be a little too pricey too:

But what about the poor helicopter manufacturers!

 

[jtheune]

I'm somewhat concerned about this level of micromanagement. Is BHO going to reach down to this level of detail and overrule the experts on everything? I would think he should be thinking more big picture rather then worrying about a couple of billion for helos that need to be replaced due to age and maintenance issues.

 

[gprellwitz]

I'm somewhat concerned about this level of micromanagement. Is BHO going to reach down to this level of detail and overrule the experts on everything? I would think he should be thinking more big picture rather then worrying about a couple of billion for helos that need to be replaced due to age and maintenance issues.

Wait, we can't have it both ways. Either we blame a President for the cost overruns, even the "little" ones (under a few BILLION dollars) or we stop yelling at them about budget! I don't think Congress (I think it was McCain who was asking him questions about this) is going to take "I don't want to micromanage" as an answer!

 

[Ted]

And Grant hits it on the nose.

 

[ScottM]

Wait, we can't have it both ways. Either we blame a President for the cost overruns, even the "little" ones (under a few BILLION dollars) or we stop yelling at them about budget! I don't think Congress (I think it was McCain who was asking him questions about this) is going to take "I don't want to micromanage" as an answer!

And yo said you did not want to get into the Spin Zone. look at you. You sound like pro-SZer now.


Go ahead take the final leap to the dark side, join us and we shall defeat the emperor and rule the galaxy

Sorry. Clone War flash back!

 

[steingar]

I saw a story on CNN this morning that the project was being halted, but can't come up with it now.

 

[etsisk]

The point is EXCESS he's calling the use of GA (e.g. BizJets) over-the-top spending, just read the CitiGroup PR, they ordered this Jet years ago, disclosed it up front and are selling to older jets to cover its cost sounds like a reasonable plan.

He needs a $500-750M 747 (not including his backup) for counter measures and communications. Christ that's whay we have AWACS and Fighter Jets talk about Over The Top spending.

If he's wants to put things into prespective he first needs to consider those who live in Glass Houses should not throw rocks!

Personally other countries do it for way less and given our technology so can we. You can try to justify why he needs to spend Billions on Travel but the realiy of it is its wasted taxpayers $$$.

Going back through the archives/search function looking for complaints about the cost of Bush's security and aircraft.... looking.... nothing yet....







still looking..... umm....







...still looking......

 

[AWACSEng]

Just playing devil's advocate, W never complained about the cost of corporate aviation. And for the record, I still belive the security POTUS gets (less TFR's, they are completely useless as we all know) is necessary.

 

[AWACSEng]

The point is EXCESS he's calling the use of GA (e.g. BizJets) over-the-top spending, just read the CitiGroup PR, they ordered this Jet years ago, disclosed it up front and are selling to older jets to cover its cost sounds like a reasonable plan.

He needs a $500-750M 747 (not including his backup) for counter measures and communications. Christ that's whay we have AWACS and Fighter Jets talk about Over The Top spending.

If he's wants to put things into prespective he first needs to consider those who live in Glass Houses should not throw rocks!

Personally other countries do it for way less and given our technology so can we. You can try to justify why he needs to spend Billions on Travel but the realiy of it is its wasted taxpayers $$$.

Someone might want to spend a little time researching the cost of operating AWACS and/or fighter jets to support the POTUS. After that, tell me AF1 is over the top spending.