Schwarzenegger sends military jet to pick up ailing legislator

[lozina]

CNN

The governator sends a military jet to pick up a legislator with 'chest pains', costing taxpayers $147,187.

He also was not in any particular danger accoridng to this:

He checked himself into a hospital specializing in heart and lung problems in the coastal town of Salvador and stayed five days before the flight home.

I wonder how conservatives feel about this? Doesn't this go against their ideology?

 

[Red Dawn]

LOL, a Democrat none the less

Ahhnold might be a Republican but he isn't one of your rank and file conservatives. He is known as a Rockefeller Republican because of his more liberal stances.

 

[lozina]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
LOL, a Democrat none the less

Ahhnold might be a Republican but he isn't one of your rank and file conservatives. He is known as a Rockefeller Republican because of his more liberal stances.

He certainly likes to spend like the stereotypical democrat

Where's my military jet if I have chest pains during my European vacation?

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Arnold probably thought he was doing the right thing . . . which means he's a decent human being . . . and dumbarse. If anything if that fossil of a Democrat was truly in urgent need of cardiac care . . . the last thing I would do would be to put him on a plane. The guy was in a specialty hospital NOT Antarctica.

 

[Strk]

Originally posted by: lozina
CNN

The governator sends a military jet to pick up a legislator with 'chest pains', costing taxpayers $147,187.

He also was not in any particular danger accoridng to this:

He checked himself into a hospital specializing in heart and lung problems in the coastal town of Salvador and stayed five days before the flight home.

I wonder how conservatives feel about this? Doesn't this go against their ideology?

A politician using tax dollars to fly around for personal use sounds familiar

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Of course, it's possible this flight fulfilled a needed training requirement. All military pilots have to fly regularly to maintain currency, and they frequently fly to interesting destinations, since you might as well fly to Hawaii as to Omaha. Even if this flight cost a lot, it might very well have added little or nothing to the operating costs of the CA Air National Guard. That said, I have flown from Washington to Brazil, and it's really, really far . . .

 

[PingSpike]

He probably thought it was necessary at the time, although in retrospect it looks like a bit of a waste.

I'm curious don_vito, do you think Bush's daytona 500 stunt would qualify as some one's training flight? Or that air craft carrier landing? Because those things looked like a complete waste of tax payer dollars to me.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
He probably thought it was necessary at the time, although in retrospect it looks like a bit of a waste.

I'm curious don_vito, do you think Bush's daytona 500 stunt would qualify as some one's training flight? Or that air craft carrier landing? Because those things looked like a complete waste of tax payer dollars to me.

It may have costs more money than a regular training exercise, but it probably didn't cost as much in real terms as it cost, if you see what I mean (ie: actual cost - cost of a training exercise = the wasted money)

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

I'm curious don_vito, do you think Bush's daytona 500 stunt would qualify as some one's training flight? Or that air craft carrier landing? Because those things looked like a complete waste of tax payer dollars to me.

As for the Daytona 500 appearance, the President is entitled (effectively required, in fact) to use Air Force One as his personal transport. I understand they orbited Air Force One over the race to allow the crowd to take a good look at it, but this presumably added only a tiny amount to the cost of the flight. The use of Air Force One and Marines One are a huge edge for an incumbent President running for re-election, and this is an inherent unfairness in the presidential election process. Frankly I think the NASCAR crowd were probably highly receptive to President Bush's appearance, though I imagine most of these people would have voted for him anyway. I doubt his pilots really needed that as any kind of training flight, since AF1 flies often enough that its pilots have no issue with logging enough hours (unlike the California Guardsmen who flew down to Brazil at Gov. Schwartzenegger's orders).

As for President Bush's flight onto the aircraft carrier, I think hindsight makes his "Mission Accomplished" proclamation look naive and arrogant (try telling the families of the hundreds of GIs killed since then that the mission was accomplished), but frankly I think it was a high-vis way of sending a positive message of support to the troops, and the actual cost was not much greater than any other carrier landing (it was presumably somewhat more costly in that it required a great deal of security, and the cost of President Bush's flight suit).

I know many liberal folks, in particular, may recoil at this kind of rah-rah boosterism, but I think at that moment in history this was a positive act by the President, and it genuinely boosted morale.

 

[nutxo]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
He probably thought it was necessary at the time, although in retrospect it looks like a bit of a waste.

I'm curious don_vito, do you think Bush's daytona 500 stunt would qualify as some one's training flight? Or that air craft carrier landing? Because those things looked like a complete waste of tax payer dollars to me.

COD flights land on carriers almost daily when they are near land. Bush landed on a COD flight. As for the daytona 500 thing, I must have missed it.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Don_Vito

As for the Daytona 500 appearance, the President is entitled (effectively required, in fact) to use Air Force One as his personal transport. I understand they orbited Air Force One over the race to allow the crowd to take a good look at it, but this presumably added only a tiny amount to the cost of the flight. The use of Air Force One and Marines One are a huge edge for an incumbent President running for re-election, and this is an inherent unfairness in the presidential election process. Frankly I think the NASCAR crowd were probably highly receptive to President Bush's appearance, though I imagine most of these people would have voted for him anyway.

I was actually thinking that when I saw it. "Why is he even bothering...those nascar fans are already going to vote for him anyway."

I know many liberal folks, in particular, may recoil at this kind of rah-rah boosterism, but I think at that moment in history this was a positive act by the President, and it genuinely boosted morale.

It probably did boost moral for the troops. It still seemed a little fool hardy and unnecessary. But hey, its good to be king!

Thanks for shedding a little light on an old subject I had been curious about.

 

[Crimson]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: Don_Vito

As for the Daytona 500 appearance, the President is entitled (effectively required, in fact) to use Air Force One as his personal transport. I understand they orbited Air Force One over the race to allow the crowd to take a good look at it, but this presumably added only a tiny amount to the cost of the flight. The use of Air Force One and Marines One are a huge edge for an incumbent President running for re-election, and this is an inherent unfairness in the presidential election process. Frankly I think the NASCAR crowd were probably highly receptive to President Bush's appearance, though I imagine most of these people would have voted for him anyway.

I was actually thinking that when I saw it. "Why is he even bothering...those nascar fans are already going to vote for him anyway."

I know many liberal folks, in particular, may recoil at this kind of rah-rah boosterism, but I think at that moment in history this was a positive act by the President, and it genuinely boosted morale.

It probably did boost moral for the troops. It still seemed a little fool hardy and unnecessary. But hey, its good to be king!

Thanks for shedding a little light on an old subject I had been curious about.

The head of all branches of the Military and former pilot decides to fly one of his planes.. SHOCKING.. :roll:

 

[Moonbeam]

Don't mess with the Booben Gropinator.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: lozina
CNN

The governator sends a military jet to pick up a legislator with 'chest pains', costing taxpayers $147,187.

He also was not in any particular danger accoridng to this:

He checked himself into a hospital specializing in heart and lung problems in the coastal town of Salvador and stayed five days before the flight home.

I wonder how conservatives feel about this? Doesn't this go against their ideology?

Military jets are used every week to fly people with medical emergencies, some of which don't seem severe, from Asia to either Hawaii, California, or Texas. Some of those people are not active duty or even reserve military, only retirees or dependents. I work in the unit which flies the planes, incidentally.

The cost to taxpayers is much higher overall than $150K though I don't know the exact figures.