CT Blue

I think it can legitimately be argued that democracy is definitely dead when the nobles no longer even pretend to believe that this is a “classless” society. Put another way, we can kiss democracy good-bye when the nobles insist on being treated like nobles, or, alternatively, when they insist on their right to treat us peasants like dirt.

If I’m right, then it looks like we might as well accept that our Republic is on its last legs. Case in point, this truly amazing, and one would think unbelievable factoid. The president of the University of Chicago has declared that the uninformed proles (maintenance, security officers, etc.) at the University may not ride the elevators in the Administration building, but must, instead, trudge up six flights of stairs. In a sign of hope, the union is not taking this lightly, and seems to understand the issue and its implications well enough.

Speaking of the nobility, it’s definitely good to be the king, or, failing that, the head guys at Google. You’ve probably asked yourself: Why can’t I get below market rates on fuel for my private jet? Well, maybe you haven’t. If you could afford to ask the question, you probably wouldn’t need to. Remember when Leona Helmsley said that only the “little people” pay taxes? Well, she was only half right. Not only do the nobles not pay taxes, they drink most deeply from the government teat:

A year-long examination of federal government documents shows that a company owned by the founders of Google has purchased millions of dollars’ worth of jet fuel at below-market prices from NASA and the Department of Defense. The records show the company, H211, whose principals are also the principals of Google, used the fuel to fly their private airplanes around the world.

Local officials in Santa Clara County confirm that the company owned by the Google founders, H211, pays no property taxes on the airplanes that are housed at Moffett—a potential loss to local tax rolls of up to $500,000 per airplane per year.

Nearly $8 million worth of jet fuel that sold for as little as $1.68 a gallon was put into a fleet of seven different airplanes and two helicopters that are kept on taxpayer-owned land at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The same jet fuel sells for two to four-and-a-half times that amount, up to $8.05 a gallon, at fixed-base operators at nearby airports in the Bay Area.

This was made possible under a NASA Space Agreement which has allowed these planes to be housed at Moffett Field since 2007. In exchange, H211 agreed to pay NASA first $113,365.74 a month in rent. That figure later dropped to $108,938.62 a month in rent and NASA was allowed to use the planes for science.

But an examination of records by NBC Bay Area in May 2012 showed that only 155 out of more than 1,039 flights were actually used for science. And these newly released fuel records show the planes used the below-market-rate fuel to fly to exotic places around the world, such as Paris, London, Cancun, Scotland, Puerto Vallarta, St. John, Hawaii, Liberia and Tahiti.

(via Google Executives Globetrotting on Taxpayers’ Dime | NBC Bay Area)

Well, really, we can’t expect these Google guys to pay for their own fuel, can we? Nor can we expect them to pay local property taxes, which they also evaded through this scam. Thank god we can cut the food stamp budget to find the cash to make sure that Larry, Serge and Eric can fly on our dime. But wait, I’ve spoken too soon. This Bush era deal having seen the light of day, has been terminated.

But am I being fair? After all, the government got good value for the nearly free fuel it gave to the Google guys and the money it literally stole from the local municipality.

In explaining the unusual arrangement, NASA officials have pointed to a related agreement by the Google executives to perform scientific flights and other NASA-related transport. That mostly has involved flights by an Alpha jet, a small trainer bought by the Google executives and used by NASA to measure atmospheric greenhouse gases and ozone.

(via Google Founders’ Jet Fleet Loses a Pentagon Fuel Perk – WSJ.com)

In other words, in exchange for fueling the Google RV, the government got to take the Google scooter out for a spin now and then. Well, that’s alright then.