{"id":2460,"date":"2009-07-02T17:32:26","date_gmt":"2009-07-02T21:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=2460"},"modified":"2009-07-02T17:32:26","modified_gmt":"2009-07-02T21:32:26","slug":"fiscal-irresponsibility-congresss-travel-tab-swells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/02\/fiscal-irresponsibility-congresss-travel-tab-swells\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiscal Irresponsibility: Congress’s Travel Tab Swells"},"content":{"rendered":"

You would think record budget deficits and the need fiscal restraint would curtail Congressional travel… but you’d be wrong<\/a>:<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON — Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands.<\/p>\n

The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That’s a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago.<\/p>\n

The cost of so-called congressional delegations, known among lawmakers as “codels,” has risen nearly 70% since 2005, when an influence-peddling scandal led to a ban on travel funded by lobbyists, according to the data.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers say that the trips are a good use of government funds because they allow members of Congress and their staff members to learn more about the world, inspect U.S. assets abroad and forge better working relationships with each other. The travel, for example, includes official visits to American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can’t really blame members of Congress… after all they’re important people who have places to go and facts to find. Places like the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands to learn about global warming or junkets to the Virgin Islands, Italy, Paris and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n

All this travel is made possible by a fleet of 16 passenger aircraft maintained by the Air Force… How, exactly, is that any different from a fleet of corporate jets???<\/p>\n

Anyway my favorite bit of questionable travel highlighted by the Journal’s analysis has to be the February trip to Afghanistan and Italy led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n

Often, lawmakers combine trips to war zones with visits to more tranquil spots. In February, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a delegation of Democratic lawmakers to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan for a day. Before landing in Kabul, the eight lawmakers and their entourage of spouses and aides spent eight days in Italy, spending $57,697 on hotels and meals.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pfft… these are the same self serving parasites who have the nerve to lecture corporate executives on the use of corporate jets while jetting all over the world on our dime??? Hypocrites!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You would think record budget deficits and the need fiscal restraint would curtail Congressional travel… but you’d be wrong: WASHINGTON — Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[160,131,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-2460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-politics","7":"tag-congress","8":"tag-nancy-pelosi","9":"tag-travel","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-DG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2203,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/15\/leon-panetta-angency-briefed-lawmakers-truthfully-in-2002\/","url_meta":{"origin":2460,"position":0},"title":"Leon Panetta: Angency Briefed Lawmakers Truthfully in 2002","author":"Jeff","date":"May 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"CIA Director Leon Panetta today released a statement defending his agency from charges that it mislead mmeber of Congress: There is a long tradition in Washington of making political hay out of our business. It predates my service with this great institution, and it will be around long after I\u2019m\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1430,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/30\/cash-for-clunkers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2460,"position":1},"title":"Cash for Clunkers???","author":"Jeff","date":"January 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wall Street Journal has details on ongoing talks between auto industry officials and lawmakers on a plan aimed at\u00a0 reviving vehicle sales. Under the proposal consumers who replace older gas guzzlers with new fuel-efficient cars would be eligible for federal tax credits of as much as $4,500. Auto-industry officials\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2125,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/05\/pelosi-seeking-to-buffer-lawmakers-from-federal-investigators\/","url_meta":{"origin":2460,"position":2},"title":"Pelosi Seeking to Buffer Lawmakers From Federal Investigators","author":"Jeff","date":"May 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"House speaker Nancy Pelosi is apparently working to establish a protocol on how to handle searches and wire taps of congressional offices. She says\u00a0 she doesn't want to limit law-enforcement wiretaps of congressional offices, just\u00a0 to clarify what are appropriate terms for notifying members about searches and tapped conversations. Huh?!?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3527,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/28\/poll-americans-dont-much-like-congressional-republicans\/","url_meta":{"origin":2460,"position":3},"title":"Poll: American’s Don’t Much Like Congressional Republicans","author":"Jeff","date":"August 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Tom Jenson, writing on Public Policy Polling's blog notes that Congressional Republicans aren't terribly popular Americans... or even their own base: Our last national generic ballot poll found the Republicans ahead 45-42 despite the fact that Congressional Republicans had a 24\/61 approval rating. Even among respondents who said they were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2481,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/07\/will-obama-push-for-a-weaker-dollar\/","url_meta":{"origin":2460,"position":4},"title":"Will Obama Push for a Weaker Dollar?","author":"Jeff","date":"July 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Ugh, this is not good... former Clinton trade official and current member of the Obama administration's economic advisory panel Laura Tyson said in Singapore today that the $787-billion plan Congress passed in February \"will have a positive effect, but the real economy is a sicker patient.\" She went on to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2880,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/23\/ny-23-palin-endorses-hoffman\/","url_meta":{"origin":2460,"position":5},"title":"NY-23: Palin Endorses Hoffman","author":"Jeff","date":"October 23, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"If the pop culture obsessed soundbite media wasn't following the November 3rd special election in New York\u2019s 23rd congressional district they will be\u00a0 now that Sarah Palin has endorsed Doug Hoffman: The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}