Pelosi: Nothing But The G-5, Baby
Gulfstream aircraft keep rapper Jay-Z and his entourage flying “above the weather,” but they may end up miring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an embarrassing scandal.
Pelosi and her staff stand accused of “berating” military officials so that the Speaker and her entourage could fly all over the recession-plagued country in only the fastest, finest, most luxurious private jets, including the G-5.
From the story:
“It is my understanding there are no G-5’s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable . . . The speaker will want to know where the planes are,” a Pelosi aide wrote in one of the e-mails.
Well, well, well.
Pelosi, of course, says the e-mails were taken out of context and are being “politicized” given her position.
Whatever.
Pelosi wasn’t alone in facing an airplane-related scandal today, though, as U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana) found himself facing questions about his political future after it was revealed that he set off security alarms at Dulles International Airport in D.C. in an effort to avoid missing his flight.
Reportedly, Vitter lost his cool with airline personnel and pulled the whole “do you know who I am?” thing, which is obviously not good for a guy already trying to rehab his image from the whole D.C. madam thing.
Of course Vitter acting like an asshole doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything, last time we checked.
Here’s the deal, people – members of Congress should fly on their own dime. And not act the fool. Period.
These people get paid fat salaries (with automatic raises each year) and we don’t have the money to be picking up the tab for any of their air travel, let alone for them to fly around in private jets.
Seriously, that goes for back-and-forth trips to Washington as well as these boondoggle CODELs – or “Congressional Delegation” – trips all over the flippin’ globe.
If a member of Congress wants to go on some European jaunt, Asian excurision or see starving babies in Africa, they can f*cking pay for it themselves.
Comments
By James the Foot Soldier on March 13th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
eeegads…sweet daddy clyburn paying his own way?…the horror
By Another View on March 13th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
the biggest waste of taxpayer funded military junket was when “W” flew in an F-15 with his whole “mission accomplished” crap when the mission just started.
if the speaker is on official business, I have no prob with her using available military aircraft. Denny Hassert did it weekly.
By Rob on March 14th, 2009 at 8:23 am
You can’t embarrass this crop of Democrats. It is impossible as they have no shame
By Pat Hendrix on March 14th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Oh Rob, facts be damned, this “story” is false.
Here’s what ABC News came up with:
“The treasure trove of documents obtained by Judicial Watch from the Department of Defense regarding Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s use of military aircraft doesn’t seem to prove the organization’s allegation that Pelosi has made “unprecedented demands” for the flights.
In fact, it appears that Pelosi uses military aircraft less often than her predecessor, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
The documents cover the period from January 2007 to November 2008 and show that Pelosi made the equivalent of 20 round-trips between Washington (Andrews Air Force Base) and San Francisco. That’s an average of less than one round-trip per month. In contrast, former Speaker Hastert traveled home to his Illinois district virtually every weekend and, his former aides tell ABC News, he would almost always travel on military aircraft. Like Hastert, Pelosi also occasionally leads Congressional delegations on foreign trips (the documents show six foreign trips: one to Asia, three to the Middle East and two to Europe).
The documents obtained by Judicial Watch also disprove another frequently repeated rumor about Pelosi’s travel: that she regularly flies home to San Francisco in an Air Force C-40, the military equivalent of a Boeing 737. According to the documents, Pelosi did not make any domestic trips on a C-40 during the 23-month period from January 2007 to November 2008. Her trips to San Francisco have all been on smaller executive aircraft, usually an Air Force C-20 (the equivalent of a Gulfstream G-3) or a more plush C-37 (a Gulfstream G-5).”
My favorite part:
“In fact, it appears that Pelosi uses military aircraft less often than her predecessor, former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.”
Marsh mouse? Planes? Please, the Dems have legions of ethical problems, please find one that isn’t false. And fits, congrats, you managed to find another story debunked for days and repeat it. Amazing.
By Chloe on March 15th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Pat,
How ’bout dem Russian bombers a’carrin nukes in Cuba? I guess Clinton’s “super-charged” button worked?
Maybe we should just send a box of chocolates to Putin.
No, tried that on North Korea.
Didn’t work then, either…
By Pat Hendrix on March 15th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Chloe,
North Korea didn’t have nukes when Clinton was in office. That was a product of disengagement during Bush Adminstration. Besides, a bunch of old Russian bombers don’t worry me too much. This is Putin’s attempt to show that our plan to put a missle shield and potentially extend NATO membership to Eastern European nations historically in the Russian orbit is not going to go unchallenged. But if this what they got, I’m not terribly worried. This is act done from a position of weakness.
By Pat Hendrix on March 15th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Oh, agreed, the “start over” button was possibly the bumbest thing I’ve ever seen. They even spelled it wrong.