Congress drops $550M passenger jet plan

Democrat leaders in the House have dropped plans to spend $550 million in the Air Force budget on passenger jets to be used by lawmakers and senior government officials.

Before leaving for the August congressional recess, the House approved a Defense Appropriation bill for fiscal year 2010 that included $550 million for three Gulfstream jets and five military versions of a Boeing 737.

The opposition to the passenger jet purchase plan was bipartisan.

Even Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill (pictured) was against the Pelosi/Hoyer jet purchase plan.

McCaskill said, "The whole thing kind of makes me sick to my stomach. It is evidence that some of the cynicism about Washington is well placed -- that people get out of touch and they spend money like it's Monopoly money."

The funding for new planes is "a classic example of Congress being out of touch with the realities of deficit spending," said South Dakota Senator John Thune.

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