House to cut luxury jet order by 60 percent

Congratulations to those of you who wrote to Congress to protest its bid to buy eight corporate jets for $550 million to sweeten taxpayer-funded vacations. It looks like all the protest over those purchases -- while 6.7 million Americans are without jobs -- may have had some effect. Unfortunately, though, not enough. The Wall Street Journal reports that Congress still wants to buy four new luxury jets for $220 million. Seems Congress still thinks it's fine for taxpayers to pay for its vacations.

A case in point is House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who has been on at least three different sides of this issue. Boehner made a speech this March in which he said that since families were suffering, "it's time for government to tighten their belts and show the American people that we 'get' it."