Not Quite Coach, But Better

Blunt saves state $405 an hour on flying:

Every hour that Gov. Matt Blunt travels aboard a private plane, he saves the state $405.

That's the amount that the Missouri Office of Administration calculates that it costs per hour - for fuel, equipment and labor - to fly its state-owned plane, which used to transport whoever was governor.

But Blunt's decision to avoid the state plane and use private planes instead hasn't cut into the state's base cost of about $156,000 a year to keep and maintain the plane.

The only way for the state to save more money is to get rid of the two-engine aircraft. "We are evaluating," said Mark Kaiser, who oversees the plane as the Office of Administration's director of general services.

Sell it. Sell it.

What would our previous governors done? Undoubtedly, hiked taxes.