NBAA Letter Challenges President's Mischaracterizations Of BizAv

As much as I distrust what politicians SAY (and then DO something else, entirely), I probably should actually LISTEN for myself, to what Pres Obama said, that has stirred this up.

I have red the rebuttals, and the media's rendition, but I take anything in the mainstream media with a grain of salt, probably even a larger grain of salt than what Politicians say.

I hope the Pres took into account how many Jobs are created in the economy by Business Aviation.

President Obama again showed his ignorance of the economy!!!

All this from an idiot who gets to fly in the ultimate corporate jet. But, when you are a socialist, you demonize and denigrate anyone who has a penny more than you do instead of working harder to earn more pennies.

All that comes to my mind is that we work to make money and buy stuff. What is the difference if you buy a Ford or a Gulfstream? If it is a depreciable item the schedule is set the same for everyone. Not all planes are depreciable and not all trips are allowed by IRS as a business expense. So just because someone is riding on a jet don't think they are always beating the tax man. I will guarantee you that anyone who buys a plane has paid plenty of taxes.

And to beat all, their dog flies separately on the G-V most of the time!

Class warfare. Obama is trying to motivate his base. Of course Biz Av is not the only industry Obama finds politically incorrect. there are over one million insurance industry workers and 500,000 coal miners in his gun sights.

Three sides to this story:

1. I agree that business aviation should be promoted !

2. Obama once again prooves he has no place in the oval office.

3. As a former pilot for a fractional airline for several years I can tell you exactly how these planes are used.

- I would estimate that 90 percent of my flights were purely for recreational reasons. Hunting, fishing, shopping, sports, skiing of course - trips to wine country, trips to the Caribbean, parasailIng, scuba diving, golf trips, and every once in a while to a meeting or for surgery (both as patient and doctor.) that is why you see so many biz jets at places like PBI,MCO,MIA,FLL,RNO,LAS,EGE,ASE,RIL,TEX,SBP, BZN, SUN VALLEY ID, NAPA VALLEY CA, TURKS AND CAICOS etc etc. the vast majority of our trips were from cities to vacation spots. I never once had an out and back to teterboro

Let's not lie to get our way - these Planes are primarily flown for pleasure. But that doesnt mean it is any less important. If there were no incentives to buy planes less people / businesses would buy them and that would mean all that money would sit in the rich people's pocket and not get into the economy - and pay wages, etc etc. this proves trickle down economics works more than any other example I have ever seen.

So let's not bullsh*t them or eachother. Just like tourism is a huge part of out economy so is this. There is no honor if you lie to win - that's what socialists/communists do - we should not sink to their level and be 100 percent honest.

Well we all know that only greedy millionaires and billionaires who aren't paying their fair share own private airplanes!

And awwaaaaaayy we go........

One could aggregate the majority of these posts and use them for a textbook definition of selfishness, greed and denial. I've owned aircraft since the 70's and we currently own and operate 3 (2 of them turboprops). If the justification for all this complaining is that the country can't move forward and be successful without corporate aviation paying the price for our privileged lifestyle, that makes no sense. Most of us spend more on one unscheduled maintenance than any tax increase. If the argument is "This is America and we earned it" then refer back to the first sentence in this post.
When I hear some in our crowd complaining about the sense of entitlement possessed by the less less fortunate and compare that to the way many of us live I'm reminded that we are often guilty of the same thing we accuse others of. I've spent most of my adult life involved in aviation at a busy general aviation airport and have seen more than enough behavior to give credence to the presidents statement.

Wow I used to enjoy this site. I had no idea it was full of right wing morons with nothing but the same words like "socialist" when they don't even know what the word means.

You all crack me the h*ll up. All of this arguing for absolutely nothing, they are BOTH freakin' morons. Next month my vote stays in my pocket because I would not give either one a pot to p*ss in.

It is not only private/corporate jets that President Obama is against, he also wants do do away with the incredible amounts of money -hundreds of billions every year- in all sorts of breaks and SUBSIDIES enriching corporations, special interest organizations and individuals and let´s not forget loopholes in the tax system, for instance that GE paid ZERO income tax on TWELVE BILLION DOLLAR profits in 2010 and there are thousands more like them. I doubt that Obama will succeed with all those senators and representatives, most of them GOPers who are too prone to help the private sector instead of trying to solve the deficit and the national debt.

President Osama proved that he is as ignorant about aviation as he is about the rest of the economy!!!