An Illustration of Just How Expensive Military Jets Are

[Cigar]

For billionaire executives, a 16-hour flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo is just too damn long to spend out of pocket. The Spike Aerospace S-512 promises to cut that time in half, and it won’t cost more than a measly $80 million.

The Boston-based Spike crew is made up of former Airbus, Bombardier, and Gulfstream engineers, along with a handful of entrepreneurs and investors that have set out to create the world’s first supersonic private jet.

Their goal is to create a new breed of business aircraft that can reach a cruising speed of Mach 1.6 (1,218 mph) and a top speed of Mach 1.8 (1,370 mph). At those speeds, the S-512 is theoretically capable of flying from New York to London in less than four hours, all while carrying up to 18 passengers in the opulence they’re accustomed to.

It’s no accident that Spike is quoting flight times over oceans and not the continental U.S. — the FAA prohibits supersonic flight over land, with few exceptions. But Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and even NASA have been working on ways to redesign supersonic aircraft to reduce the boom when breaking the speed of sound, but to no avail.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/12...rospace-s-512/


B-2, $2.2 billion dollars a pop
B-1B, $318 million dollars a pop
F-22, $418 million dollars a pop
F-35, $243 million dollars a pop



So tell me why some of this discretionary funding can't go towards useful things like housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, hiring teachers and firemen, taking proper care of veterans, fixing our failing infrastructure ... and $#@!ing JOBS ?

[Max Rockatansky]

Maybe because limiting the pot to "discretionary spending" gives a distorted picture of the truth. Specifically, the truth about how our tax dollars are spent:



Can we reduce military spending? Yes and we should, but those entitlement numbers for social security and medicare (not to mention ACA) are going to explode as more and more Baby Boomers hit retirement age.

[Cigar]

I have ZERO Problem with The United States of America Government Spending American Money on actual Americans.

[Max Rockatansky]

[Max Rockatansky]

I have ZERO Problem with The United States of America Government Spending American Money on actual Americans.

Great because, as the charts show, that's where most of it goes.

[Cigar]

Great because, as the charts show, that's where most of it goes.

... and where would you like it go?

[Max Rockatansky]

... and where would you like it go?

Mostly back to those to whom it used to belong.

[Cigar]

Mostly back to those to whom it used to belong.

Like American Citizens, Veterans, Elderly, their Un-Aborted Children

Got it ...

[Max Rockatansky]

Like American Citizens, Veterans, Elderly, their Un-Aborted Children

Got it ...

Tax payers. Yes. Specifically, Middle Class tax payers who are already bearing a higher percentage of the burden than any other group.

http://www.mybudget360.com/plunderin...35000-or-less/

The middle class is being slowly dismantled piece by piece. New Census data released this week highlights a continuing trend that is pushing more average Americans into a perpetual struggle to stay financially afloat. New data shows that the median household income is $50,221 in 2009 which is down from $52,029 in 2008. This drop of 3.6 percent comes at a time when many U.S. households are struggling to make payments on mortgages and more importantly, find jobs.