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United States Pilots Association |
This column represents my opinion; not that of USPA.
It is apparent here in the middle of March that John McCain will be the Republican nominee for President and either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will represent the Democrats. Either option does not bode well for general aviation.
We know that Hillary and Barack want to provide health care for everybody, albeit at the expense of the working class. Taxes will be raised to pay to provide the monies to pay for health care. Both are flaming liberals of the tax and spend mentality. I will bet both would sign a bill instantly if it created a new division of government tasked to collect user fees.
Then we have John McCain. No one can tarnish his military record and all that went with it. However; Sen. McCain along with Sen. Trent Lott created the user fee bill attempting to assess user fees onto general aviation while giving the airlines a huge tax break. If this bill ever gets out of Congress, I am sure it will be the death knell for flying as we know it.
Sen. McCain has a lot of other baggage. Several years ago he authored a bill that cost Boeing a huge contract to build the next fleet of Air Force tankers. Boeing won the bid, only to lose it after Sen. McCain's bill voided the contract. Now the contract was rebid and our government awarded it to a French company along with Northrop Grumman. Can The American Air Force depend on French made planes? What about parts availability? What about the loss to our economy?
Finally there is the ever increasing cost and ever diminishing availability of avgas. Many friends of mine have reduced their charity flying for Angel Flight/Grace Flight due to fuel prices. The ever popular $100 hamburger has gone up so high we end up eating at Sonic or Wendy's.
I have come to the conclusion that a Democrat will probably win the White House in November. I can only hope and pray the damage he or she does over the next four years will result in a Conservative rising up to restore the country to fiscal stability in 2012. Hopefully, after whoever is elected this year destroys the economy, general aviation, and our military, common sense will prevail the next time around and these people will not remain in control of our lives.
Steve Uslan, President
United States Pilots Association, Inc