Obama, McCain yet to take stand on pricey new Marine One

Source: CNN

WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain and Barack Obama vow to reform the nation's defense procurement if elected president, yet each is unwilling to take a firm stand against the skyrocketing cost of a plum White House perk: the new Marine One helicopter.

Originally carrying a hefty price tag at $6.1 billion, the fleet of 28 helicopters being built to fly the next president is now projected to cost $11.2 billion.

At $400 million apiece, the helicopters far exceed a prime example McCain uses on the campaign trail to rail against congressional pork-barrel spending, a $230 million "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska. The British have bought the same base model helicopter for $57 million each.

Read more: Obama, McCain yet to take stand on pricey new Marine One

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We need to send Obama notice that this is the kind of thing we need to be completely against.

Obama should speak out against this colossal waste.

For a HELICOPTER!? :grr:

It in it's latest updated form is still except for the F-22, the best fighter in the world. I know we need to be first, but somewhere you have to draw the line, try for peace or perpetual war. Do you have stock in defense contractors, or something? The cost of the war machines will eventually enslave all of us but the few at the top. This bullshit scalds me as they continue to say we don't have the money to implement the Gore plan to save the US. If we don't wake up soon it won't matter.

re the F-15s age and the need for 381 F-22s to accomplish the Air Force mission versus the Bush admin approval of only 183.

Have a nice day, :hi:

At the time of that testimony, the leadership of the Air Force had been the "fighter mafia"...a long line of fighter pilot generals. They complained about the F-15 being made from 1978-1985, and that it was too old. Story after story of how the F-15 would have maintenance issues would be published in AF magazines and news papers.

Yet C-130 pilots were flying airplanes with wing cracks in aircraft made in 1961. Tanker pilots were flying aircraft with tail cracks and corroded engine mounts made in 1956. And that wasn't really a priority for the fighter mafia....they wanted their new toy. F-15Cs have done ZERO in both current conflicts...they don't have an air-to-ground mission at all. The F-22 was given a marginal air-to-ground mission (it can carry like two bombs) to help sell it as being "useful", but honestly the way the Air Force is fielding the airplane, it's completely an air-to-air mission. Unless China attacks us, there's no reason to have the F-22...even then, the F-15 can still hold it's own with China's best.

Does he really need one for nearly every day of the month? I think how this is handled will tell us a lot about Barack. If he is unwilling to cut this WAY back, I will be very worried about what else he may be unwilling to give up, such as powers we previously thought unconstitutional. The price tag doesn't surprise me so much as the quantity. I expect these are the most technologically advanced helicopters in the world. But 28???

For people who wish to bash Obama if he does not release a position paper on this in the next three days or less.

It is something he can address when he takes office. Otherwise, it is a gratuitous "gotcha" piece. Look for people to be quoting this hither and yan, across the frothing right, within days.

And no immediate response from Obama tells me nothing about him. Dear Leader ordered these copters. It's his responsibility. Not Obama's. Yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMX-1



http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usmc/hmx-1.htm

And if he's going to a locale that doesn't have a runway or secure roadways...helicopter is it.

Marine One is usually used for extremely short distance traveling that could be done with the motorcade but is more convenient or safe to do with a helicopter. $11 billion could go a long way toward fixing our schools.

The helicopters often ferry the WH staff and the president over much longer distances that could be over 200 miles. That's a long motorcade. Also, not every place the President goes has a runway. I'd agree the costs have gotten out of hand, but you can thank the Five-Sided Puzzle Palace (Pentagon) for that. They kept adding stuff onto the original design, and that costs money...and 28 isn't a very big buy in the world of defense contracting...so all that test and evaluation costs have to be absorbed into only 28 aircraft. That's where you get $400 million apiece, much like the stealth bomber, that was supposed to only cost a few hundred million apiece, wound up costing over $1 billion apiece...because they went from buying around 100 to just 21 aircraft. All that R&D cost was spread over fewer that two dozen aircraft.

Much like the idea of a Honda Accord versus a Ferrari. Both probably cost the same amount to develop overall. But since Honda will sell several hundred million examples, and Ferrari will likely sell a few hundred, you can see how that overhead gets spread out. The Honda is cheaper because of volume.

with half that many? Or less? If the very worst scenario happened, there are still lots and lots and lots of helicopters that could temporarily become Marine One. In the grand scheme of things, this is an insignificant issue, but it points out the waste in this government.

If the number is 28 then so be it. I do want the POTUS especially the current one to be in the best, safest, fastest and best arm chopper that money can buy. If you have ever been in a busy city where a motorcade has passed through, the entire route gets shut down. That can bring an entire city to a standstill. I am all for oversite and should give the manufacturer hell for the cost over-runs. Perk for him keeps thousands of people from being left stranded while the president passes through. I'm sure many are used as decoys as wells having some for back ups(mechanical break-downs). Others are probably used for advance or forward deployments when the pres travels. hey all thats necessary to pay for them is cut Iraq short by one month.

They ought take the current one to the highest building in town and provide him with a hang-glider. That would be better than he deserves.