http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/3/23/200636 For those who enjoy reading Articles on taxpayer rip-offs. BardTitle: Hillary Loves to Fly, and She Knows It
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Hillary Loves to Fly, and She Knows It
UPIRead The Case Against Hillary Clinton by: Peggy Noonan...purchase your copy at our Online Store WASHINGTON -- House Republicans on Thursday accused first lady Hillary Clinton of forcing taxpayers to subsidize her campaign trips to New York, but Republican estimates of the costs vary widely. Democrats shot back that the discrepancies in the Republican cost estimates raise questions about the credibility of all of the Republican data. Democrats also argue that the congressional investigation is an improper use of taxpayer money to fund a political effort to discredit a Democratic candidate. While the president and other top government officials fly at taxpayer expense, they are expected to reimburse the government for the portion of their travel costs that is incurred on campaign or fund-raising trips. Republicans say Hillary Clinton's official travels as first lady should be publicly financed, but not her political travel as Senate candidate. With a formula drawn up during the Reagan years, White House accountants break down the travel days for top officials, including the first lady, minute by minute, divide the time spent on official business from time spent on political business and come up with a cost ratio. For example, if Clinton goes to New York and gives one administration policy speech but makes two campaign stops, then the White House bills the first lady's Senate campaign for two-thirds of the trip's total expenses, including flights for political staffers on administration aircraft. House Appropriations Committee Republican staff members briefed reporters Thursday on what they called an ongoing investigation into the first lady's travels. The committee has collected information from the White House about the number of times Clinton has flown to New York, the percentage of those trips that had political purposes rather than official duties as first lady and the estimated total cost of her air time. These calculations suggest that Clinton's political trips to New York have cost taxpayers $141,407, but the campaign has paid only $27,000 of that. These numbers do not include the cost of the security detail that travels with the first lady. But the Republican National Committee released data Thursday that estimate the first lady's political travel costs at over $900,000. The RNC estimates include such things as Clinton's trip to Buffalo with President Clinton in January 1999, where the president made a speech. That event was prior to the announcement of Mrs. Clinton's Senate candidacy. RNC spokesman Tom Yu said, "we decided (the Buffalo trip) was political travel because we hadn't seen Hillary travelling around for these kind of events" prior to the time she began considering a Senate bid. The RNC suggests that the Clinton campaign should reimburse the Air Force $70,000 for that trip alone -- the cost of two hours aboard Air Force One. Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., told UPI Thursday the flight logs represent "a million dollar campaign contribution by the American taxpayer, and not a voluntary contribution." Asked whether New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani -- Clinton's Republican opponent for the Senate seat -- uses the resources of the mayor's office when he travels, Sweeney replied: "Giuliani is required and does indeed reimburse for all of the expenses that he's incurred. There is no comparison to the million dollar raid that this represents." Appropriations Committee staff members said they had made no attempt to compare Clinton's travel reimbursement rate with the reimbursements of President Clinton or President Bush in their campaigns for reelection. The Clinton campaign issued a statement Thursday arguing that the "only misuse of taxpayer funds is occurring at this hearing." The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a statement accusing the GOP of "misusing taxpayer dollars and squandering congressional resources on partisan, political, pointless committee hearings designed only to embarrass and politically damage the first lady." The White House also called the hearing a political attack. "The partisan nature of the hearing was revealed when the Republican National Committee announced the hearing in a press release," said White House spokesman Jim Kennedy. Kennedy said the Clinton White House was operating consistent with the law and in the same fashion as during prior Republican administrations. "It's extremely hypocritical for Republican to ask for more reimbursement, when they provided the same level during the Reagan and Bush administrations." Kennedy said the first lady's office was completely paid up by rules put in place during the Reagan administration. Kennedy also produced White House memos from the Reagan and Bush years outlining the need for first ladies to travel on official aircraft, primarily for security concerns. On Capitol Hill, Republican staff members for the committee denied squandering tax money on politically driven probes, saying it is completely appropriate for staff to investigate the spending of a government office within the jurisdiction of the committee. A spokesman for the committee said the investigation has not added any expenses to the annual costs of reviewing the White House budget. Appropriations and RNC staff maintain that they have not compared their research and did not coordinate their efforts. Read The Case Against Hillary Clinton by: Peggy Noonan...purchase your copy at our Online Store
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