Larry Dighera wrote:
Bloody hypocrites:

"Commercial airline passengers shouldn't continue to subsidize
corporate jets,"

Given that commercial passengers are now paying less, equivalently
speaking, than they ever have before, yes, yes they should continue to
subsidize corporate jets.

"If we don't restore equity, then as chairman of this aviation
subcommittee, I will address the equity issue by looking for ways
to limit general aviation access to congested airspace."

"If we can't make sure that the dinosaurs maintain their monopolies on
the routes and airports, then we will have to look for other ways of
eliminating our fertile tax base".

Do these guys even listen to themselves when they're speaking?

S.1300 would
eliminate the 4.3 cents per gallon fuel tax the airlines currently
pay,

Oh yes, I must have forgotten that day in economics where eliminating
the tax on your LARGEST consumers, and placing the burgeoning debt on
the SMALLEST contingent fixes all of your budget concerns.

"The general aviation community is not unreceptive to an increase
in the gas tax," said Roberts. "They're for modernization as
well."

If by "modernization" they mean "pay more and fly less", then ****
modernization. The system works now. Just because the big airlines find
themselves consistently outpaced by smaller and newer competitors
doesn't make the best solution taxation of a community admittedly unable
or unwilling to pay. Southwest and the other regionals continue to
happily do business while the government spends millions bailing out the
dinosaurs, and the whole absurd ruckus rolls on.

Ridiculous, it is.

TheSmokingGnu