Nice to see the Dems settling in to the seat of power...

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Personally I think it's crap no matter who participates in stuff like this. But I like to poke at those who cited a need for moral reform as the reason congress needed to be controlled by the Dems...

Nothing ever changes in Washington.

Link

Congressional junkets picking up steam
7 hrs ago Congressional junkets picking up steam

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Congress is keeping Andrews Air Force base plenty busy this year ferrying lawmakers all over the globe at taxpayers? expense. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi took his wife, nine Democrats and two Republicans - Reps. Dan Lungren of California and Mike Rogers of Alabama - on a whirlwind tour of the Caribbean last week. After stops in Honduras and Mexico, they stopped in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the delegation stayed at the five-star Caneel Bay resort.


In a separate trip to the Caribbean last week, Rep. Eliot Engel of New York squired his wife and four Democratic members to Grenada and Trinidad.

All told, the military flew at least 13 congressional delegations to various destinations during the Easter recess -- at an estimated rate of $10,000 or more per flying hour.

The congressional delegation trips, known as CODELs, are paid for by taxpayers. They are supposed to be directly related to members? official duties, and House guidelines also stipulate that delegations include members of both parties to qualify for military planes -- a requirement that Speaker Nancy Pelosi waived for Engel?s group and two other delegations.

?There was a good faith effort made to include Republican members,? a Pelosi spokesman said. ?For one reason or another, that did not work.?:laugh:

Translation: The Rs knew what kind of press this was all going to draw and avoided it like tree in a lightning storm.

In one instance, he said, a Republican slated for a Democrat-led trip had to cancel because of a ?family emergency.?

Yeah... apparently he got the memo about the impending press disaster that was about to ensue.

In their successful campaign to win control of Congress last fall, Democrats accused Republicans of extravagant travel paid for by lobbyists. Some of these trips carried a strong whiff of influence peddling. The worst that can be said of CODELS, and critics often say it, is that they?re junkets.

Thompson?s office said he toured the Caribbean because he now chairs the Homeland Security Committee and wanted to see vacation hot spots to ?examine border security and port security.? :laugh: Three other members of the delegation also brought along their spouses.

I can't let that go... what a bunch of bullshit. I mean really... does anyone believe that?

?They are going from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday,? a committee spokeswoman told The Examiner. ?They do not have down time.?

Viagra is a helluva drug. :laugh:

At the Caneel Bay resort, where room rates reach $1,100 per night, the spokeswoman said Thompson and his wife paid the ?government rate.? But, according to the reservations department, Caneel Bay doesn?t ?offer any government rates.?

They paid the government rate... LOL. Having had personal experience in selling things to the government, I know that when there is no government rate, the government rate is the rate. Nice double speak there Congressman Thompson. :laugh:

After Caneel Bay, the group headed to Key West, Fla., for a ?classified briefing on inter-jurisdictional agency task forces,? a Thompson spokeswoman said.

Scott Adams couldn't have written a better title for that conference.

The Caribbean trip led by Engel, who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, explored the ?best practices for emergency disaster relief? and energy policy, according to his office.

Traveling with Engel and his wife were Reps. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Tex., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who went to Belgium in a delegation led by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., earlier in the week, also joined Engel?s Caribbean trip. She brought her husband with her.

Frank?s trip to Belgium and London was related to his work as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, according to his office. The trip, which also included Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., was designed ?to further understand the interrelationship between various issues related to the financial services regulatory structures? of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, according to Frank?s office.

Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., also led a trip to Belgium over the two-week Easter recess. In February, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, took a delegation there.

?We?re at war with Iraq and Afghanistan, but apparently our members see Belgium as our most urgent international destination,? scoffed one Republican member of Congress.

Last week, Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., defended Congressional travelers after a trip he took to Syria came under intense White House criticism.

?Members of Congress are not simply potted plants, though the White House apparently would like them to be,? he told reporters after his return. ?Congress plays an important role in determining policy and providing funding for America?s international policies.?

Just classic.

 

[wetech]

I had very similar comments in my thread

Link


I liked the Scott Adams line.

 

[Genx87]

Thompson?s office said he toured the Caribbean because he now chairs the Homeland Security Committee and wanted to see vacation hot spots to ?examine border security and port security.?

Hahahahaha Hohohohoho Hehehehehe omg that is such a classic BS line.

btw in my experience working for the federal govt on contract. The govt rate is usually the top rate +50%.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

The behavior of these Democrats is indefensible.

But I prefer them wasting federal dollars by the trickle rather than privately funded junkets that lead to legislation that wastes federal dollars by the deluge.
DeLay junkets


I don't remember anyone complaining about this in 2005

Sen. Ted Stevens, the powerful Alaska Republican who led the congressional delegation to the posh Paris Air Show -- which has been called "the biggest junket there is" -- refuses to disclose how many members came along, how much it cost taxpayers, and offered few details about the event.
"We don't talk about other members. They don't talk about us," Stevens spokeswoman Courtney Boone said, explaining that the secrecy surrounding the trip, which stretched from June 9 to 13, is due to "security reasons" because as the president pro tempore of the Senate, Mr. Stevens is third in line for the presidency. "It's very unusual for us to comment on trips that Senator Stevens makes because they are confidential because he's in the line of succession."
---
Asked about what he learned at the show, Mr. Sessions last week declined to elaborate, saying only that he was happy to go because "I'd never gone to the air show before."

But again . . . Democrats rule the roost, so they better be prepared for justified criticism of how they spend federal dollars. Then again, Bush is on a multi-state tour this week talking about Iraq. I wonder if he will do any fundraising?

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Nothing ever changes in Washington.

Not true. The people abusing the power have began to change and they will also change who the people benifitng from power are.

Since the goverment officials insist on wasting so much money it must be about time for a tax hike..... for the rich of course.

 

[dmcowen674]

These Republican circle jerk threads are hysterical. :laugh:

At least the Dems aren't pumping trillions to their Oil buddies and getting our soldiers killed with a false war.

 

[wetech]

hrmm... my thread on this topic got locked. oh well.

Anyway, this kind of BS needs to stop. Why the hell are taxpayers footing the bill for members of Congress to spend their Easter vacations drinking mai tais on the beach in the Virgin Islands?


I say, if your spouse comes along, they should have to pay the going rate for a commercial flight, even if they're taking a military plane. They should also have to flip 1/2 the bill for the hotel. None of this free ride crap.

 

[EXman]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
These Republican circle jerk threads are hysterical. :laugh:

At least the Dems aren't pumping trillions to their Oil buddies and getting our soldiers killed with a false war.

No they are buying off their closer friends in PORK so they vote their way. Keeping those soldiers there possibly longer due to lack of funding properly and renewing the insurgents with our obvious signal of weakness.

 

[manowar821]

Originally posted by: wetech
hrmm... my thread on this topic got locked. oh well.

Anyway, this kind of BS needs to stop. Why the hell are taxpayers footing the bill for members of Congress to spend their Easter vacations drinking mai tais on the beach in the Virgin Islands?


I say, if your spouse comes along, they should have to pay the going rate for a commercial flight, even if they're taking a military plane. They should also have to flip 1/2 the bill for the hotel. None of this free ride crap.

I guess you could join that "religion" (see: cult) that says you're not allowed to pay taxes to a government that is at war.

Actually, I've thought about tax fraud the last couple years, but I'm not exactly willing to go to jail over something as trivial as money.

I'd also like to know where the money that I give is going, and WHY it's going there.

One good example is the vacations you speak of. Another would be bombs and guns for a war that doesn't make any sense. Or how about filling in for the religions that for some reason, don't HAVE to pay their taxes?

How about the spending that is quote on quote, classified...? There are billions of dollars a year that disappear, and we have no idea where it goes. What are they building, a death star?

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Personally I think it's crap no matter who participates in stuff like this.
...

Yeah, I can tell by the way you never started any threads about the Republicans doing stuff like this (and worse). You guys fall back on that "oh, I don't like ANYBODY doing it" line like that makes your political sniping any better, and hope that nobody noticed that you defended every little stupid thing the Republicans did while in power.

For the record, I don't like it either...but somehow I don't think dyed in the wool Republicans are really the ones to call the Democrats on anything.

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: EXman

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
These Republican circle jerk threads are hysterical. :laugh:

At least the Dems aren't pumping trillions to their Oil buddies and getting our soldiers killed with a false war.

No they are buying off their closer friends in PORK so they vote their way. Keeping those soldiers there possibly longer due to lack of funding properly and renewing the insurgents with our obvious signal of weakness.

We've been going backwards for how long now? AFAICT our obvious signal of weakness is our leadership, it's obvious lack of planning, and it's desire to go into Iraq without enough world support. So far throwing money at the problem hasn't worked, why continue down the same failed path?

 

[Jhhnn]

Yeh, it's terrible, I tell ya, just terrible. That junket probably could have financed .01 minutes of the Iraqi occupation, 1.5 minutes of NMD research, or funded another DeLay golf junket to the Marianas or Scotland, paid for one of Gonzales' congressional testimony coaches, financed efforts to recover all the "lost" Whitehouse and RNC email....

Apparently, Congress needs to fund a whole fleet of Wahmbulances for those formerly in power and their fanbois, as well....

Let's hear the chant- "They're just as bad! They're just as bad!" Pretty pitiful when that's the strongest recommendation they can make for their own efforts...

 

[Red Dawn]

It good these stories surface to reminds us that Democrats suck almost as bad as a Republicans

 

[manowar821]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
It good these stories surface to reminds us that Democrats suck almost as bad as a Republicans

keyword, ALMOST. :laugh:

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
It good these stories surface to reminds us that Democrats suck almost as bad as a Republicans

I think that's a bit of hyperbole. Republicans waste our money, pollute the earth, and mettle in our personal lives. Democrats just waste our money.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: wetech
hrmm... my thread on this topic got locked. oh well.

Anyway, this kind of BS needs to stop. Why the hell are taxpayers footing the bill for members of Congress to spend their Easter vacations drinking mai tais on the beach in the Virgin Islands?


I say, if your spouse comes along, they should have to pay the going rate for a commercial flight, even if they're taking a military plane. They should also have to flip 1/2 the bill for the hotel. None of this free ride crap.

It was the USVI. Those drinks were likely young coconuts with an island rum. The rest of your post is spot on.

 

[1EZduzit]

Hopefully we'll see some canidates for POTUS that are ALMOST worth voting for. It would be a refreshing change.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Personally I think it's crap no matter who participates in stuff like this.
...

Yeah, I can tell by the way you never started any threads about the Republicans doing stuff like this (and worse). You guys fall back on that "oh, I don't like ANYBODY doing it" line like that makes your political sniping any better, and hope that nobody noticed that you defended every little stupid thing the Republicans did while in power.

For the record, I don't like it either...but somehow I don't think dyed in the wool Republicans are really the ones to call the Democrats on anything.

Now why would he need to do that with the daily barrage from from the left on this board?
Why reinvent the wheel?

 

[DealMonkey]

*Yawn*

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
It good these stories surface to reminds us that Democrats suck almost as bad as a Republicans

I think that's a bit of hyperbole. Republicans waste our money, pollute the earth, and mettle in our personal lives. Democrats just waste our money.

Yeah it's like having a choice of stepping in Fresh Dog Sh!t or Day Old Dog Sh!t. In the end it's all Dog Sh!t.

 

[EXman]

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
It good these stories surface to reminds us that Democrats suck almost as bad as a Republicans

I think that's a bit of hyperbole. Republicans waste our money, pollute the earth almost as much as Gore, and mettle in our personal lives. Democrats just waste our money, play the blame game, and wait for the next poll so to know which side to take that morning.

fixed.

politicians suck no matter which side they are on.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: BaliBabyDoc

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
It good these stories surface to reminds us that Democrats suck almost as bad as a Republicans

I think that's a bit of hyperbole. Republicans waste our money, pollute the earth, and mettle in our personal lives. Democrats just waste our money.

Yeah it's like having a choice of stepping in Fresh Dog Sh!t or Day Old Dog Sh!t. In the end it's all Dog Sh!t.

Well, fresh or old, it's good, in my opinion, somebody scooped it up and threw it in the Democrat's faces. When worthless pieces of ****** use tax dollars for their petty personal pleasure it makes me sick, Democrat or Republican, and I hope the issue gets them unelected, even if it means to the other party. God Damned Son of a Bitches!

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Personally I think it's crap no matter who participates in stuff like this.
...

Yeah, I can tell by the way you never started any threads about the Republicans doing stuff like this (and worse). You guys fall back on that "oh, I don't like ANYBODY doing it" line like that makes your political sniping any better, and hope that nobody noticed that you defended every little stupid thing the Republicans did while in power.

For the record, I don't like it either...but somehow I don't think dyed in the wool Republicans are really the ones to call the Democrats on anything.

Now why would he need to do that with the daily barrage from from the left on this board?
Why reinvent the wheel?

You wouldn't expect Indy 500 drivers to drive with the same wheels that were on Roman chariots? Just look at the Dem's abuse as a further refinement of tried and true technology.

Edit: Well, maybe not true, but defintely tried.

 

[imported_Shivetya]

Being Democrat or Republican doesn't matter, they are politicians first.

Never forget that. They consider themselves the elite, they are no different than the crap that ran Rome into the ground. They will justify anything at any cost and they are so full of it that they even believe this crap.

The next 2 years won't be any different than the previous 2 years.

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Personally I think it's crap no matter who participates in stuff like this.
...

Yeah, I can tell by the way you never started any threads about the Republicans doing stuff like this (and worse). You guys fall back on that "oh, I don't like ANYBODY doing it" line like that makes your political sniping any better, and hope that nobody noticed that you defended every little stupid thing the Republicans did while in power.

For the record, I don't like it either...but somehow I don't think dyed in the wool Republicans are really the ones to call the Democrats on anything.

It?s so fun watching the people who complained when used the Clinton administration as an excuse for what Bush is doing now doing the same thing.

We?ve gone from ?Just because Clinton did it doesn?t mean its right.?

To ?Well Republicans did it too.?

Let?s ban them from bringing family members on these trips and require them to fly commercial. The only time they should be flying on military jets is when they are going in or out of dangerous places like Iraq.

And Rain, ?dyed in the wool Republicans? would be fiscal conservatives by nature and therefore would not approve of anyone going on these types of wild spending sprees.