The presidents new helicopter

I couldnt care less if it impressed foreign leaders. They arent paying our taxes.
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Perception is Reality when perceptions drive reactions. Again, you may not like it but it is the truth. Obvious displays of power are a part of international relations. State visits and such have a protocol and format that have been long established. All the participants know the rules and while it is mind numbing to those who wish to see real, efficient action taken it is the only way to get things done peaceably on the international stage.

Impressing foreign leaders is important.
 
No, I'd strap a chute onto the Chimp-in-Chief, load him into a large circus cannon, test the wind with a wet finger, fire, and hope for the best. Oh, almost forgot, he'll need a helmet with the words "Special Ed" printed on the side.
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Dude, I almost pi$$ed myself laughing.
 
"I'd strap a chute onto the Chimp-in-Chief"

Your momma must be real proud of your ability to express yourself in such a clear, intelligent manner.

John
 
Part 2.

"doubly so during a depression"

What depression? It's possible we haven't officially enter a recession at this point. The US economy is still larger than Germany, England, China and Japan COMBINED.

I'm sorry you think the sky is falling. It isn't.

John
 
I'm sorry you think the sky is falling. It isn't.
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Exactly.

We had a .6 percent increase in the GPD for 4th quarter of 2007. Small, but there.

Our last single quarter of downturn was in the third quarter of 2001.

Kudo's to the first braniac that made it through freshman Macro' that can define "recession."
 
OOOOOO, pick on me Professor Thumper pick on me...

A recession is two or more consecutive quarters of a declining GDP

key words being TWO CONSECUTIVE and the big one...DECLINING
 
I hadn't realized that a President had the authority to make these appropriations. If the program is as all bad as the OP claims, and only a Bush plaything then surely the Democrat controlled Congress would have flatlined it by now. Right?
 
Please don't take anything this particular OP submits with any credance, HKuser. The Kestrel fleet was ok'd by the DOD to replace the existing fleet in service since 1963. It wasn't to be fully implemented until 2014.

Unfortunately for the OP's point (and credibility), the White House has put the program on hold because of Lockheed Martin's failure to keep under budget.
 
Another example of BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). Come on guys, he's just making helo rides safe for Hillary or Obama. You don't want them exposed to right wing wackos do you?
 
BDS, exactly.

By the way Pat, Ron Paul travels back and forth, doesn't he? Where in the consitution does it say representatives can travel around the country in jets?
 
"I'd strap a chute onto the Chimp-in-Chief"

Your momma must be real proud of your ability to express yourself in such a clear, intelligent manner.

John
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Thank you, John. Some of our members must be reminded not to speak such vile of Lord Bush II, Supreme Commander in Chief, ruling over us the great unwashed masses. :barf:

It's just like when these politicians come out in support of a gun ban, "no one needs these kind of guns", but yet they have these same arms with men trained to use them, for their protection, paid from the public treasury. "I say you can't have this to protect yourself and your family, but you must pay for it for me." Same thing with this expensive aircraft.
 
Oh, give it a rest.

You want a VH-71? Save up your candy money and buy one. Or actually run for the office and win. Then you can fly all you want.
 
You want a VH-71? Save up your candy money and buy one. Or actually run for the office and win. Then you can fly all you want.
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Problem is the fed.gov has already taken our candy money to buy 23 of them. I can understand a couple for the president's needs, but 23? What happened to fiscal responsibility? Or does fiscal responsibility not matter when it comes to comforts and convenience for the ruling class?
 
Unfortunately for the OP's point (and credibility), the White House has put the program on hold because of Lockheed Martin's failure to keep under budget.
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You folks do realize that if this is correct -- the program has been put on hold -- then you're arguing about nothing?

So has the program been put on hold or not, Pat? :confused:
 
On hold, with an ever increasing pricetag, but certainly not dead.


“There has been no decision to terminate the program,” Bill Balderson, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for aviation programs, said Dec. 14. “We’re continuing to look at all the options. We’ve looked at almost every conceivable option because we didn’t want to take anything off the table.”

Sources suggested that the Pentagon wanted to kill the program, which reportedly has grown from $7 billion to $11 billion, but was overruled by the White House.

Neither White House nor Pentagon officials could discuss details of the meeting, but one source said that after all options were discussed, the decision was made to move ahead with the program.

A team composed of Lockheed Martin, AgustaWestland and Bell Helicopter Textron won the contract with the US101 in 2005, but rising costs and engineering glitches slowed development and raised concerns in the Pentagon.
A critical design review found that the Increment 1 aircraft met the needs of the first phase of the program, but an April systems requirements review revealed that nearly 2,000 design changes would be needed to meet Pentagon requirements for the second round of aircraft. The changes included a new tail, transmission and rotor blades.
“Increment 1 was a different program, a different airplane,” Balderson said. “There was an underestimation at the outset of how much work and how much time it was going to take to meet the requirements.”
With Lockheed’s ability to meet the 2015 delivery deadline for Increment 2 aircraft in doubt, the program has been essentially put on hold while options are considered.​

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3252531&C=airwar
 
I don't know if you guys have been reading the reports, but the current equipment that is being used in Iraq is wearing out pretty damn quick. Heck, there were even local fund raisers to buy bullet proof vests for our soldiers. I don't see how anyone in their right mind can justify spending that kind of money on a helicopter.

Why do we need to question govenrment spending???
1. We pay taxes. They have to be accountable with OUR money.
2. When we don't question their spending, they go crazy.
3. Unless we update and replace worn out equipment, our military won't have the tools they need to fight.
4. Unless more money is spent on education, the country will be doomed anyways.

I call it responsible spending. Is that so much to ask for???
 
Do you really feel that we should be using stock, off the shelf aircraft, for transporting the National Command Authority?
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AKAIR, Tony Blair, and all UK Prime Ministers, fly commercial on British Airways when they travel overseas.

Contrast that with the US Presidential flying circus. For example, I was at Yakota AFB outside Tokyo when Bush Senior visited. (It was the visit when he puked :barf: on the Japanese PM).

On the flight line, for aircraft associated exclusively with the POTUS visit, I counted about 12 C-130's, 6 C-141's, 2 unmarked USAF 747's, and the President's 747, and innumerable Black Hawks constantly circling the base especially when Bush was rushed to the hospital there.

I don't expect the President of the US to fly commercially, but there's no reason for his aircraft needs to be so massively excessive either.

I think that the mission for Air Force 1 could just as easily be accomplished by a special "Presidential pallet" that could be loaded onto a C-17. His need for helicopter transport could easily be met with Black Hawks.
 
If you really want to stop massive spending, then please research why half of our budget is for "social programs" (welfare, hud, section 8, food stamps, heating assistance, etc). That will get your blood boiling. But, I figure you wont do that, because you just want to trash Bush. I am sure, the very minute he leaves office, things in this nation will get better. :rolleyes:
 
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