President Obama has a new term for the people he wants to tax more: jet owners. And he says anybody making $250,000 per year is "flying around in private jets".
In his news conference today, the president said: “I think it’s only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that’s doing so well to give up that tax break….I don’t think that’s real radical.”
Asking private-jet owners to give up tax breaks may not be that radical. And it probably would be supported by the vast majority of the nonjet-owning voters. The problem is that most of the people that would be subject to the higher taxes the president wants aren’t likely to be private-jet owners. It's all a bunch of smoke blown up the collective arses of Americans to put the touch on your wealth and giving it (under the guidance and dispensation of an all seeing and all knowing government) to those that can't or won't contribute.
Someone earning $250,000 a year–among those scheduled for a tax increase in 2012–is unlikely to afford a jet–or even afford to charter a trip on a jet.
For those, like the president, (who has a fleet of jets at his disposal) who may not be well-versed in Jetonomics, here are some of the basics. The numbers come courtesy of Central Business jets, and aircraft leasing and charter firm:
COST OF BUYING A JET
New Citation CJ (entry level jet)–$5 million. Annual operating costs (fuel, hangar space, pilots) about $500,000.
Cheapest Used Jet–$100,000 to $500,000. Annual operating costs (hangar, pilots, mechanics, fuel) about $1 million a year.
COSTS OF CHARTERING A JET
Typical charter–$3,000 an hour. New York to LA? $17,500 or so.
It is possible, of course, that someone earning $250,000 a year might spend 5% to 15% of their annual income on a single flight by chartering, in which case we could call them “corporate-jet fliers.” Or perhaps "idiots" - because any first class ticket in the US would cost at most $2,000 as opposed to the minimum of $10,000 to charter a jet. But that is unlikely. Even more unlikely is someone earning $250,000 a year paying $500,000 to $1 million a year to operate a jet–making even a FREE jet untenable to the "rich families" Obama wants to go after.
And it also hardly matters to the White House. If you make over $250,000 per year - you are a leach on the belly of society, exploiting the masses so that you can fly around in your private jet.
According to Central Business Jets and others, most of those who own their own jets have net worth's of $100 million or more and earn more than $10 million a year–minimum, such as Hollywood elites and media glitterati.
The President may be right to portend that is fair to tax private-jet owners. He may even be right that it is fair to raise taxes on those earnings more than $250,000 a year. But his confusion over the size of the intersection of "Jet Owners" and "People Making $250,000 per year" is actually pretty frightening.
But the only kind of jet owned by people earning $250,000 a year would be the kind that sits on your desk that you built from a kit when you were 12.
Perhaps Obama can take a ride in that one…..
