In an informative article in the Wall Street Journal, Congress’s Travel Tab Swells, we can learn of the “perks” that our elected officials feel they have coming and blatantly put on our tab.
I consider it disgusting that elected officials of both parties feel like they can travel, spend, vacation, and abuse their power all at our expense. It is a huge double standard to scold executives for flying in their jets and admonishing us that we need to sacrifice for our country, when lawmakers spend excessively to travel in this manner. Knowing about this issue needs to be enough to cause American taxpayers/voters to speak out against the $13. million travel marathon that has seen a “50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago.”
We now have one more factor to consider when we vote in the next election. I urge you to be aware if your elected officials are traveling and partying excessively on your hard earned money. Personally, I do not want my money spent on a bunch of lawmakers and their buddies traveling to the Paris Air Show at the cost of $5,700 an hour to operate the Boeing 737 and staying in hotel rooms at a cost of $460. a night.
Nor do I think that Ms Pelosi can continue to get by with trips in the guise of visiting our troops in Afghanistan for a day but spend the prior eight days in Italy with lawmakers, their spouses and aides with the tab of $57, 697 on hotels and meals!
This kind of abuse must be acknowledged with outrage and call for accountability no matter what party affiliation. I have a strong feeling what is highlighted in the Wall Street Journal article is only the tip of the tax-payer financed trip iceberg.
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: Democrats, Lawmakers, Nancy Pelosi, tax-payer funded travel
With the state of our debt, can’t Pelosi and others use available technology and stay put? I can’t imagine and handshake from her would be that big of deal. Just put her in front of a computer camera and have at it.
We need to cut them off with their spending our money.
My wife read this story and shares your view. But I notice a couple things you omitted.
The chart of rising costs starts when Repubs took over the House in 1995, not two years ago as you imply. It is going up faster lately, but it wasn’t flat under Republicans!
Also a key fact is that Congress spends more now on travel because they stopped letting members go abroad at lobbyists expense. That was probably worse.
Still, you are correct that the sense of entitlement runs rampant in Washington and we’d be better off if it didn’t.
Finally, keep your eyes on the big money–bank bailouts, stimulus bills, military spending—not puny travel costs.
This Is why I believe we need term limits.
Once they are in congress for decades like Nancy Pelosi, (Or Tom Latham) they grow a false sense of entitlement to spend our money at will.
Ah, but they keep getting re-elected, too. There’s the old saying, “Tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and re-elect.”
We have met the enemy and it is us.
I’m afraid term limits would only increase the power of lobbyists. No term limits for them!
Im not pointing a finger at any one party they all are abusing powers and im fed up with the whole lot of them.
Even though term limits is a great idea, the root of the problem is that we keep elected the same stupid people.