Obama's Ride

President Obama today used the occasion of a White House economic summit to promise that the new presidential helicopter program will get a "thorough review" -- adding that he believes his current helicopter is not too shabby.

Reuters reports:

"I have already talked to (Defense Secretary Robert) Gates about a thorough review of the helicopter situation. The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me," Obama said at a White House event on fiscal responsibility.

"It is an example of the procurement process gone amok and we are going to have to fix it."

According to The Hill, Obama noted "in jest" that "obviously I did not have a helicopter before."

Obama heeded a call from his former presidential rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services panel, to stem the cost overruns in many Defense Department programs with the presidential chopper just as an example.

"Your helicopter is going to cost as much as Air Force One," McCain told the president during the open session of the summit.