Econoline wrote:
I'm surprised that no one here has yet pointed out that the bus chassis that this vehicle was built on came from a Canadian manufacturer:
The President's bus is a Canadian built Prevost Model VIP H3-45... The Identical model was used by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
The Bush and Obama Administrations chose Prevost because no US Bus manufacturer was able to meet spec requirements. GM Coach and Truck Division is long gone. MCI doesn't build anything big enough.
Sarah Palin's bus was also a Prevost - which I find hilarious because she commented "This bus represents everything that's great about America." - Yeah - except where it was built. Michele Bachmann is also campaigning in a Canadian-Built Prevost:
John McCain's good ol' "Straight Talk Express" bus was also a Canadian Prevost VIP H3-45 - Identical in size to the President's.
Before you have a hissy-fit about its color, The President's bus, as is his limousine, is painted in "RAM" in accordance with directives of the Secret Service. RAM stands for "Radar Absorbent Material" which in this case are ferrofluidic and non-magnetic type substances that reduce the reflection of electromagnetic waves. The exact material and thickness of RAM coatings is classified by the military. Its purpose is to absorb radiated energy from a ground or air based radar station into the coating and convert it to heat rather than reflect it back.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
The Bush and Obama Administrations chose Prevost because no US Bus manufacturer was able to meet spec requirements. GM Coach and Truck Division is long gone. MCI doesn't build anything big enough.
Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said the agency based its purchase on bus design, looking for the coach with the most available space to accommodate state-of-the-art custom security modifications.
The service acquired two of the new campaign-style buses last year as additions to the government’s protective fleet. Could the government have purchased a bus that was made entirely, or almost entirely, in America? In theory, yes. The only US-headquartered coach manufacturer, Motor Coach Industries, based in Schamburg, Ill., also builds the country’s only “buy American compliant” coach, the majority of whose parts are made here, an MCI spokeswoman said. It’s unclear whether the Secret Service considered this option. The presidential limousine, nicknamed “the beast”, was made by Cadillac, a General Motors Corp brand, in 2009.
So it's up to the Secret Service where the coach is purchased from.
Nothing to see here.....
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Thanks, Dales - I'll bookmark that site, but as I spend my working days in court, I can't have a wardrobe of tshirts, which is mostly what's on offer there.
I generally have to settle for choosing clothes made in countries I'm reasonably certain have child labor prohibitions.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan