Kansas Congressman Betting On Political Value In Opposing User Fees

The Obama administration's pandering to those who don't understand the role of business aviation in the economy is finally getting the attention of the general media, and Republicans are catching on that there may be political points to be scored in standing behind the industry.

Not surprisingly, a GOP lawmaker from aviation-dependent Kansas is among the first to go for those points. According to a report in The Hill, Kansas Fourth District Representative Mike Pompeo took the House floor to comment, "He demonizes general aviation users. He calls them corporate fat cat jet owners at every turn. But it's not impacting the folks who use those as business tools. It's impacting the people who build these airplanes.

"His rhetoric kills sales of American manufactured goods, and with them the jobs that are created when those airplanes are built."

Pompeo also blasted Obama's proposed $100 per-takeoff user fee for flights involving ATC. "At a time when America's got unemployment of one in six or more, it's no time add taxes on folks who are trying to fly their airplanes around this country, to get from Topeka to Des Moines, to get to small towns, to support American manufacturing."

FMI: http://pompeo.house.gov/