-Caveat Lector-
"If every person has the right to defend - even by force - his person, his
liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the
right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights
constantly."
--- THE LAW, by Frederic Bastiat
Folks, Why won't "they" disclose how much we taxpayers are being
reimbursed??
Bard
Published in Washington, D.C. 5am -- June 11, 1999
www.washtimes.com
Hillary's appetite for Apple is voracious
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
By Barbara J. Saffir
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has made 66 solo trips to New York state
at taxpayer expense since 1993, 10 of them in the first 5 and a half months
of this year, a review of travel records by The Washington Times shows.
Over the previous six years, Mrs. Clinton averaged nine solo trips a
year to New York. That rate has doubled so far this year as she edges closer
to running for the Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a
fellow Democrat.
Spokeswoman Marsha Berry insists the first lady's stepped-up travel to
New York is not related to her likely Democratic candidacy for the open
Senate seat.
"There are a lot of people who have asked her to participate in events
in New York," Ms. Berry said.
Neither the White House nor the Democratic National Committee (DNC)
will disclose how much the first lady's trips cost. Nor will they say
exactly how much the government has been reimbursed for the political
portions of her travel as she stumps for other candidates and promotes
herself.
This refusal, despite a federal law mandating such reimburse-
ments, infuriates some government watchdogs.
"We should know where every nickel goes . . . no matter who is in
power," said Charles Lewis, executive
-- Continued from Front Page --
director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan research group
that has studied the costs of campaign travel. "The average American does
not want to subsidize someone seeking partisan office."
The Times' review of White House travel summaries and Mrs. Clinton's
public schedule shows that she:
Favored New York as a domestic travel destination this year over all other
states. She traveled to New York 11 times -- just once with President
Clinton -- while boosting her trips to neighboring New Jersey to three
visits and going only once or twice to 11 other states.
Headlined at least 12 Democratic fund-raisers in New York so far this year,
including events for five incumbent members of Congress.
Traveled to New York without the president a total of 66 times since 1993,
more by far than other favorite states such as California, Florida and
Illinois. (Counting trips with Mr. Clinton, she went to New York 82 times.)
New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a likely Republican contender for
the Senate seat, has poked barbed fun at Mrs. Clinton's interest in running
for federal office in the state without ever having lived there.
"I think that Hillary wanting to come to New York is a really fine
thing," Mr. Giuliani said Monday night before a Republican dinner in Niagara
County. "She can look around, try to find out something about the state . .
. if she wants to live and work in New York like other people, that's
terrific. But there's another question whether you should represent a state
you never lived in, you never worked in and you know nothing about."
The first lady's three next most-popular destinations since 1993 were
California (38 trips), her home state of Illinois (28) and Florida (26).
Arkansas, her adopted home, warranted 18 trips. On many trips, she
accompanied the president.
Mrs. Clinton returned Thursday from her 10th solo trip to New York
since January.
Travel records indicate her official events in New York as first lady
continue to focus on issues she has stressed for years -- education,
children and health care.
But she also is cramming her schedule day and night with political
appearances on behalf of Democratic candidates -- stops that could boost her
own unannounced Senate candidacy.
She appeared Wednesday at a fund-raiser in Binghamton for Rep. Maurice
D. Hinchey, New York Democrat, and attended a $5,000-a-plate DNC fund-raiser
that targeted homosexual donors and was held at a private residence in New
York City. In April, atop the World Trade Center, she helped raise money for
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who supported the president during
his impeachment trial.
Also this year, the first lady addressed loyalists at the DNC's Women's
Leadership Forum and headlined a state Democratic Party event. She helped
attract donors for Rep. John J. LaFalce, New York Democrat, and for Rep.
Nita M. Lowey, the New York Democrat who last week said she would not
challenge Mrs. Clinton in a Senate primary race.
When Mrs. Clinton appears on behalf of candidates, federal law requires
that the candidates reimburse the government for the portion of her travel
costs related to their campaigns.
The DNC bills candidates in advance for prorated expenses incurred by
Mrs. Clinton and her staff, including food and lodging. After receiving
payment, the party deposits the money in an escrow account used to reimburse
the government, said a committee spokesman who asked not to be identified.
Even after such reimbursements, taxpayers still feel the pinch of the
first lady's partisan travels.
That's because the law requires that campaign committees cover only the
price of a first-class airline ticket, although the taxpayers' tab is
thousands of dollars each time an Air Force jet flies Mrs. Clinton
somewhere.
It costs $2,179 an hour to fly the C-9A jet -- similar to a DC-9 --
that she frequently uses, said Master Sgt. Rick Corral, a spokesman for
Andrews Air Force Base. It costs $3,615 an hour to fly the newer, smaller
C-20, which sometimes is used by the first lady and resembles a Gulfstream
corporate jet.
The Pentagon calculates the in-flight costs of all military aircraft.
The numbers are based on fuel, maintenance, and flight and ground crews
required for a trip, Air Force spokesman Maj. Tyrone Woodyard said.
Lodging and food for the crews and other expenses on the ground -- even
in the case of overnight stops -- are not included in calculating costs,
Maj. Woodyard said.
When she travels, the first lady takes along a trip director,
photographer and press secretary, Ms. Berry said. A specialist on the issues
she will address often comes along too.
Secret Service officers travel with the first lady, who typically rides
in a motorcade once on the ground. Her staff sometimes requires local
transportation.
The White House traditionally has not disclosed exactly how much travel
by a first lady costs taxpayers.
"There's a little bit of wink-and-nod subterfuge here about the actual
costs," Mr. Lewis said. "We don't know what the actual costs are and we
probably never will know. The White House isn't under any legal requirement
to tell us."
After the 1996 presidential race, his Center for Public Integrity
analyzed air travel costs and found that the Clinton-Gore campaign "paid
just a fraction of the real cost of flying" Air Force One. It costs $35,300
each hour the 747 is aloft, an Air Force spokesman said.
"The subsidies that make these flights possible appear nowhere in the
reports" filed by the campaign with the Federal Election Commission (FEC),
the study concluded.
FEC reports due next month will provide some information on the DNC's
reimbursements to the government for the first lady's air travel. But the
committee will not release details, DNC spokeswoman Jenny Backus said.
"We make public what's required by the FEC," she said.
However, interviews with candidates for whom Mrs. Clinton has stumped
provide a glimpse of associated costs.
When Mrs. Clinton appeared briefly at the April 19 fund-raiser for Mr.
Nadler -- which pulled in about $400,000 -- the DNC sent the New York
congressman a bill for $4,338.45.
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, another New York Democrat, gave the DNC
roughly $8,500 to defray expenses for the first lady's appearance at a June
2 fund-raiser.
Mrs. Lowey's spokesman, Howard Wolfson, said the congresswoman will not
disclose details of her campaign's reimbursement payment for Mrs. Clinton's
fund raising help.
Mrs. Clinton, who is poised to become the first lady to run for
national office, plans to set up an exploratory campaign committee next
month. If she had formed that committee this month, the law would have
required her to file a campaign finance report to the FEC by July 15
covering activities during the first half of the year.
By starting a committee in July, Mrs. Clinton would not have to file a
report until Jan. 31, 2000, an FEC spokesman said. It would list
contributions and expenses from July through December of this year.
Ms. Berry said the first lady will not form the committee until July
because of foreign travel scheduled for later this month.
Researcher Clark Eberly contributed to this report.
http://www.washtimes.com/news/news2.html#link
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither
inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for
the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage
than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater
confidence then an armed man."
--- Thomas Jefferson
Bard
Visit me at:
The Center for Exposing Corruption in the Federal Government
http://www.xld.com/public/center/center.htm
Federal Government defined:
....a benefit/subsidy protection racket!
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