For a government that spends close to $4 trillion a year, a few hundred million may not seem like much, but Trump’s tweeting that Boeing overcharged on the new Air Force One serves notice that someone in Washington might be checking the bill before paying the tab. From Duane Norman at fmshooter.com:
The designation/callsign “Air Force One” has been around since around the time of WWII, with FDR being the first president to fly while in office. Since 1943, with only a couple exceptions, the Air Force has been flying custom versions of Boeing commercial airliners for the presidential flight mission. Most recently replaced in 1990, the president currently flies in a modified 747 with the military designation “VC-25”; two copies were produced for a cost of $325 million apiece, and the callsign “Air Force One” is only used when the president is onboard.
Even though it is still extremely advanced, Air Force One is due for a replacement. Currently, the operating cost for each VC-25 is $210,877 per hour; an extremely high figure, likely because of the dated nature and high maintenance costs of both the airframe and the avionics suite.
However, with a total program cost estimated to be around $4 billion dollars, Boeing is clearly gouging the taxpayer. The newest derivative of Air Force One will end up being over six times as expensive as the last one, which was built on the same airframe. I guess Boeing just thought the higher price tag was going to slip through the cracks of a bloated DoD budget?
To continue reading: Trump Is Correct – Boeing Is Gouging The Taxpayer On The New Air Force One
Reblogged this on The way I see things … and commented:
Oh the sound of a Tweet lol
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Trump is correct to call out Boeing for this injustice they are doing to the taxpayer. Not only is he calling attention to another runaway military expenditure, he is putting all government contractors on notice. Whether the MSM believes the president should be focusing his attention elsewhere or not, he is demonstrating that he is not afraid to call out any contract size or any contractor for gouging the taxpayer.
Hopefully, Trump’s conduct will keep government contractors’ heads on swivels, and wary of the repercussions of overbilling on government contracts for as long as he is president. Still, our government spends close to $4 trillion annually, and Trump cannot be everywhere at once. Don’t be surprised when reports of more over-budget, behind schedule government programs appear during his presidency.