MICHAEL BARONE: OBAMA’S CORPORATE-JET FIXATION:
I note that President Obama took on corporate jets five or six times in his press conference. Evidently he wants voters to think that changes in the depreciation schedule for corporate jet aircraft will go a long ways toward cutting the federal budget deficit. I doubt that voters are so naive. “Corporate jets” may get a negative response in some focus groups—I gather that’s why Obama kept returning to the theme—but I doubt that voters generally care much about them one way or the other.
There are, however, two groups in our society who are familiar with private jet travel but are unable to use it very often, much to their chagrin. They are: (number one—I spell out the number because of Microsoft Word’s irritating insistence on altering paragraph structure when you use numerals) members of Congress and (number two) members of the press.
Playing to insider envy. If I were a GOP member of Congress, I’d introduce a bill capping the number of hours the President can travel on Air Force One. For greenhouse-gas purposes, of course.