Good for President Obama for honoring — and surprising — Defense Secretary Robert Gates on his last day on the job with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a president can give a civilian. Gates deserved it for his four decades of service to this country. As is his way, Gates turned the focus from himself to the troops: “I’ll just say here that I will think of these young warriors — the ones that fought, the ones that keep on fighting, the ones that never make it back — until the end of my days.”
President Obama left no doubt at Wednesday’s news conference about how he feels about corporate jet owners, repeatedly mocking tax breaks for them, and for millionaires, billionaires and oil companies. “If you are a wealthy CEO or hedge fund manager in America right now, your taxes are lower than they have ever been. They are lower than they have been since the 1950s. And they can afford it,” Obama said. “You can still ride on your corporate jet. You’re just going to have to pay a little more.” Obama is right about the need for a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction. But can’t the president understand that such specific hostility toward corporate jets extends to those hardworking Americans who build them, and to a community such as Wichita that specializes in building them for the nation and world? Must he keep picking on aviation manufacturing?
Good for President Obama for honoring — and surprising — Defense Secretary Robert Gates on his last day on the job with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a president can give a civilian. Gates deserved it for his four decades of service to this country. As is his way, Gates turned the focus from himself to the troops: “I’ll just say here that I will think of these young warriors — the ones that fought, the ones that keep on fighting, the ones that never make it back — until the end of my days.”
