Congressional Travel Junkets Up 50%
By Wyatt Earp | July 3, 2009
Change!
Wow, I tell ya, this would be really embarrassing if the country were in the middle of a recession right now. Oh . . . never mind. Well, I’m sure Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid had nothing to do with this . . . Or they didn’t know about it . . . Or they didn’t care . . .
The true shame of all of this is that when she was elected Speaker, Pelosi said the following:
“After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: pay as you go, no new deficit spending. Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt. [O]ur first order of business is passing the toughest congressional ethics reform in history. Let us join together in the first 100 hours to make this Congress the most honest and open Congress in history.”
Yeah, right.
Democrats ran on the Culture of Corruption charge in 2006 and gained control of both chambers of Congress on the promise to clean up Capitol Hill. The Wall Street Journal finds instead that Democrats have used their power to spend taxpayer dollars on high-priced global travel. Taxpayer-funded Congressional delegation travel has increased by 50% since the Democrats took charge:
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 Galápagos Islands.
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.
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. (H/T – Hot Air)
So let’s see: Congress is raising our taxes, forcing us into a Cap and Trade debacle that will destroy small businesses, and leading the nation to an unemployment rate of 9.5%. And while we are suffering economically, they are taking trips to exotic locales on our dime. Interesting.
I guess I have only one question. Why would anyone vote to keep these people (Democrats and Republicans) back into office next year?
Topics: Politics | 5 Comments »
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Because nobody good wants the job.
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Do you think she’d let me have one of the seats on her plane? I’m helping to pay for it, and I’d like to visit my cousin in Oregon. I can take the train from Cali.
July 4th, 2009 at 9:56 am
I can tell you my own Congressman voted against the cap-and-trade bill, so that’s one reason why I would vote to keep him in office.
My Senators, on the other hand, need to be voted out.
By the way, Wyatt, where the hell did you get that Pelosi photo?
July 4th, 2009 at 11:22 am
You should have put that photo behind a cut, it gave me night terrors.
July 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
John D – Exactly. And that is the real problem of American politics today. The MSM is destroying people who disagree with them, so why would any decent sort want to run for dog catcher?
RT – Oh yeah, give her a call. I’m sure she’d love to help out a fellow American.
Morgan – The Little Shop of Horrors. My congress-beyotch (Alyson Schwartz) voted for Cap and Trade, because she was just re-elected and thinks no one will remember her treachery. She’s wrong.
Mrs. Crankipants – Sorry, dear!