Sequester this supersonic albatross and they can serve free caviar when they renew White House tours

An F-35 flies over Destin, Florida. As the complaints roll in over the jury-rigged mess called the budget sequester, one quarter you aren't hearing any bellyaching from is the guys building the F-35 Lightning II, the fifth-generation air-to-air and air-to-ground combat aircraft. It's supposed to be several magnitudes better than the aircraft it will replace. Supposed to be stealthy, maneuverable, evasive. It can be used in three configurations by all the military services and it can be sold to U.S. allies everywhere.

The superlatives are never-ending for this plane built to win battles in case the Cold War ever switched to hot. Never mind that the Cold War was over before the vast majority of last year's college graduates were born and half a decade before the first development contract for the F-35 was signed.

And never mind that those superlatives include the latest tabulation by Theodoric Meyer at the website ProPublica. Some of the findings:

' In 2013 dollars, the F-35 was originally estimated at $106 million for each of 2,852 planes, at a total pricetag of $303 billion. Now, the Pentagon plans to buy 2,443 for $162.5 million apiece, a total of $397 billion, a 52 percent cost overrun for 15 percent fewer aircraft.

' So far, $85 billion has been spent to build 65 planes even though they aren't yet fully tested. Once testing is over "there will be no yes-or-no, up-or-down decision point," Pierre Sprey, one of the chief architects of the Air Force's older F-16 Fighting Falcon, told the Washington Post. "That's totally deliberate. It was all in the name of ensuring it couldn't be canceled."

' $1.5 trillion to cover the cost of building, flying and maintaining the F-35 fleet throughout the 55-year lifespan of the plane.

' 133,000 jobs in 45 states that contractor Lockheed-Martin says the project currently supports.

' $15.35 million spent in 2012 on lobbying by Lockheed-Martin.

Charles Pierce at Esquire has properly labeled the F-35 the Flying Swiss Army Knife, aka The Lemon Of The Skies. But he's just an opinion writer. What does he know? Please continue reading below the fold to see what a boondoggle the F-35 is.