tark i can see you have zero knowledge of how the US government fleet operates, where the budget comes from and who can and cant use the planes and for what functions.

the air force operates and maintains all govt jets, they asked for 2 to replace part of their fleet / upgrade ... congress told them they needed 8. now you tell me ... who would know better about what the needs of the air force are? the air force or a bunch of overpaid dicks?

yea there may be alot of legislators but 90% of them never leave the country and most of them attempt to use govt jets as personal vehicles to travel around the US. pelosi herself is notorious for requesting jet usage on a regular basis and she rarely leaves the country

the fact of the matter is at a time when the economy is the worst its been in 80 years you have the govt spending half a billion dollars on jets for their personal use when the department that operates, maintains and repairs these jets saying only 2 are necessary.

the air force is repeatedly arguing the fact that 8 isnt necessary, but legislators dont agree and its not like some military tech to protect our soldiers its VIP custom planes loaded with all the gadgets and more of these means less legislators have to travel with the common citizen.

as of 2008 the air force operates almost 100 business class jets ... so i'm pretty sure that theres no need for 8 when the air force says all they need is 2