Taxpayer Funded Travel Jumps…
Tags: Caucus of Corruption, junkets, overseas travel.
Click here to get Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority by Matt Margolis and Mark Noonan.
Ahh, I can remember when Democrats raised hell about congressional travel back in 2005… Every single trip taken by Republicans was criticized. It was just the beginning of a storm that lead member of both parties scrambling to get their paperwork in order, and these junkets were largely curbed for a short while.
Back in the majority, Democrats have not only gone back to their globe-trotting ways, they are traveling at the taxpayers’ expense this time.
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.
Truth be told, Republicans are taking these trips, too. But, it was these kind of trips, though funded by lobbyists and non-profits, that had Democrats either crying foul at Republicans for taking part in them, or excusing their own trips, saying “At least it isn’t the taxpayers paying for the trips.”
The storm they caused starting in 2005 ultimately lead to Mark and I writing Caucus of Corruption. That said, this newfound acceptance of travel on our dime wasn’t unexpected. The question is, why, after Democrats said they’d conduct themselves more openly, honestly, and ethically, have actually done the opposite. I think we all know why.
Thank you for visiting Blogs For Victory. If you enjoy our content, please consider making a donation to help us cover the costs of our servers.Matt Margolis is co-author (with Mark Noonan) of Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority. He also blogs at The Buffalo Bean. Follow Matt on Twitter.
31 Responses to “Taxpayer Funded Travel Jumps…”
Caucus of Corruption
Mr Margolis,
That Codel to the Galapagos Islands in 2008 got me wondering. I recall seeing something about a bipartisan trip there in Ocober 2008 to study climate change. I did a little research and found that the place where I’d heard it was from my partnet who had seen it on Inside Edition while flipping through the channels. Democrats Baird and Hooley both Democrats and Republicans Lucas, Inglis and Chandler went to the Galapagos. What is left out is that more Republicans are taking codels as well and as I see you did have the stones to go and check for yourself before going on a full blown Caucus of Corruption book tour rant.
Matt: The storm they caused starting in 2005 ultimately lead to Mark and I writing Caucus of Corruption.
Oh, so it was the storm over excessive travel that prompted you? Once again the logic required is full of holes large enough to drive a tank through. It’s almost as if you not only expect but require your readership to be ignorant fools. It’s depressing.
The whole point of the outrage, if I recall, was that the trips were being paid for by lobbyists. It wasn’t the fact that congresscritters were traveling, it was the fact that they were being taken on vacation by lobbyists.
That said, a 70% rise in costs since 05 is cause for concern.
Note that he said “ultimately”.
cheap excuses you 3..
or should i say…
you 3 stooges….
Sergei Andropov: Note that he said “ultimately”.
Can I interest you in a tank? Very clean, one owner, low mileage, only been fired a couple of times…
I have to ask – which is worse? Taking trips on the public purse or taking trips funded by lobbyists? Although taking trips funded by either is corrupt, at least the public purse doesn’t normally influence the person taking the trip. The whole point of a lobbyist paying for a senator to go on vacation is a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” agreement. The lobbyist pays for a vacation in return for disproportionate representation of their point of view. This is even more a conflict of interest where the politician concerned sits on a committee whose purpose is to regulate the business the lobbyist is lobbying on behalf of.
Personally I find it LESS objectional that a congressman or senator might visit a war region on my dime than one about to vote on health care take a free all-expenses-paid vacation paid for by a health insurance company whose only “requirement” is to indoctrinate that congressman or senator into their point of view with a few powerpoint presentations and biased documents.
As a realist and small business owning conservative, this is why I am truly amazed at how much confidence our institutional liberals have in government, and government officials. The great majority of them are all on the dole, Democrats and Republicans, and most of them haven’t a clue how business works, or for that matter, how the real world works. Our current idiot in chief, has never operated a laundrymat, yet now he is in control of the worlds largest economy, and our slavish sycophants still think he is the greatest. It boggles the mind. Pelosi and Reid haven’t two respectable brain cells between them. I can see right through Pelosi’s head everytime she is on TV. The quality of those currently in charge of our government as never been lower.
And instead of wondering what the hell 5 government idiots did going to the Galapagos to study the myth of global warming, we’re more concerned about letter is after their name?
You all get the government you deserve.
Can I interest you in a tank? – rico
If it’s a French tank, you should know it will only go in reverse.
cluster: Pelosi and Reid haven’t two respectable brain cells between them.
How do you mean that, exactly? If you mean the brain cells in question are physically connected one to the other, then I’d say you’re technically correct. But it’s irrelevant (other than the occasional siamese twin, no two people have brain cells physically connected, respectable or not). If you mean that in total (irrespective of mutual connectivity), the two of them don’t have two respectable brain cells, then I suspect you’re exaggerating. Lol!
I can see right through Pelosi’s head everytime she is on TV.
Wow, an X-ray TV! Where did you get it? I want me one! Did you see it advertised in the back of a Marvell comic?
Funny story tho… a while ago my honey (the new Mrs. Rico) was in the back yard trimming one of our banana trees when she sensed a “disturbance” in her ear. She went totally ballistic! She was sure something had crawled into it and was fixing to invade her brain. She wanted me to pour mineral oil in her other ear> so as to prevent deeper penetration. I love the woman with all my heart and soul, but I think it’s obvious she doesn’t have a firm grasp on the details of vertebrate anatomy. In fact, I’d say that’s an understatement. Anyway, perceiving that her state of extreme distress (she was really freaking out!) might distract her from a studied explanation as to why what she suspected was impossible (and realizing that that alone would never be enough — she had ear aliens, goddamit!), I took her to the local emergency clinic to have an honest to goodness MD gaze into her ear.
He did, and he concluded she wasn’t infested with ear aliens after all. She probably just had a piece of dust or something wiggling a hair on her tympanic membrane. Go figure. In the mean time I got all kinds of kudos for staying cool in her perceived moment of emergency. Man, this is such an easy gig, lol!
At any rate, do I need to provide you with the anatomy lesson Mrs. Rico never got? Or do you just want me to hold your hand?
@Cluster:
Have you any idea how weak that argument is? Our previous commander in chief ran an oil company. It went bust. He ran a baseball team. It went bust. He ran the country. It went bust. And yet the slavish conservative sycophants still insisted he was great.
cluster: And instead of wondering what the hell 5 government idiots did going to the Galapagos to study the myth of global warming, we’re more concerned about letter is after their name?
You know what makes me wonder more than anything? Where did their spouses go shopping? Can you shop on the Galapagos for anything besides gimme caps and t-shirts? Is there a Bubba Gumps?
Just amazing – here we are in national bankruptcy and you liberals are excusing a 50% increase in Congressional travel…and you’re ok with it because at least lobbyists aren’t paying for it! You do realize that what was once the lobbyist’s dime is now yours? They’re still be wined and dined by lobbyists, but now the lobbyists don’t have to pick up the tab for the plane ticket.
I’m sorry, but you liberals are behaving in a monumentally stupid manner here. Seriously – grow a pair, start acting like Americans.
Rico,
I guess you have never heard that expression I used, so I will reluctantly explain, of which I seem to have to do a lot with you.
Anyway, both Reid and Pelosi are idiots.
There, does that help?
ArcticFox: Have you any idea how weak that argument is? Our previous commander in chief ran an oil company. It went bust. He ran a baseball team. It went bust. He ran the country. It went bust.
Technically, the baseball team didn’t go bust. And to be fair, he was a pretty good governor. In one respect I did miss Ann Richards, though — she was hillariously funny, and was so intentionally (unlike other governors of Texas — like Dolph Briscoe and Jimmy Hogg, who were unintentionally so).
He ran a baseball team. It went bust. – Arctic Fox
AF, your arguments are so easily dismissed, I am surprised you continue to embarrass yourself. Bush actually bought the Texas Rangers, with other investors, when the team was at a low point, both in wins and attendance, invested in the team, recruited talent, won a few seasons, built a new stadium and then sold the team for a pretty fair profit.
Aside from that, conservatives, not republicans per se, (and that’s where your mind gets confused) lambasted Bush for his spending. However that doesn’t fir the template of which you feed from, so proceed with your ignorance.
cluster: There, does that help?
Awwww… do you need a hug? Okay, maybe that’s beyond the pale. Perhaps you could just keep repeating to yourself… “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me.” Does that help?
…do you need a hug?
No, I am not like you. But I see you referenced a little Stuart Smalley huh? Another example of how pathetic our current representation is.
Pravda has a firm grip on our current society and educational system, and our liberals here like AF, orlando, etc, certainly fit the template.
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/107459-0/
@Mark: I didn’t excuse it. It’s still dishonest. But of the two evils, the greater evil is by far for lobbyists who have an interest in influencing votes to be funding vacations for senators and congresscritters.
AF,
Oh, for Pete’s sake – who do you think wrote the Spendulus and the Cap and Trade bill? Lobbyists are all over DC…more so than at any other time in history. You need to wake up and realize that by excusing corruption on your side, you’ve installed the most corrupt and greedy cretins to be in government since the decline of the Roman republic.
cluster: But I see you referenced a little Stuart Smalley huh?
It seemed imminently topical, lol! But really, you never need a hug while at the same time accuse me of being too theoretic? Come over here, ya big lug.
With regard to your Pravda article, you do realize it was an opinion piece, right? From an individual, right? With precious little in the way of details, right? Basically, its argument was ideological, and superficially at that. If you ask me, a far more thought provoking and damning piece was offered up by a former IMF muckity muck. In it the author likened the current financial situation of the USA with various third world nations with enough facts and logic that made it a compelling argument. I might have mentioned it on this site at some point in the past (I’m guessing it was about three weeks ago), but I failed to earmark it for future reference. Can anyone help?
Personally I find it LESS objectional that a congressman or senator might visit a war region on my dime than one about to vote on health care take a free all-expenses-paid vacation paid for by a health insurance company whose only “requirement” is to indoctrinate that congressman or senator into their point of view with a few powerpoint presentations and biased documents
I do not know what I want to laugh at first, you not starting this with Bush’s illeagal war region or the thought of some one having to pry that dime out of your ass.
AF,
Here’s a good article for you to read:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/07/023956.php
boilerdoc,
Thank you so much for trumping out the “illegal” war meme. I had thought people of that belief set and institutional ignorance, had become recluses, but I see you have no shame, or brains.
Well done!
“Oh, for Pete’s sake – who do you think wrote the Spendulus and the Cap and Trade bill?”
Who do you think. Here is a link to Henry Waxman’s staff and their salaries.
http://www.legistorm.com/member/525/Rep_Henry_Waxman/58.html
There are 19 listed. I suspect that his staff along with the staff of the many other members of the the Energy and Commerce wrote the Cap and Trade bill. Unfortunately, I am sure there are still a great deal of lobbyists working there who have the ear of these staffers. The only way to change this is to pass real election reform that includes public financing of elections. That way the only people who Congressmen will owe are the people they represent. So, instead of paying for elections by passing money though lobbyists, we eliminate the middleman and get a representative democracy that is more direct.
I hope for the sake of your conservatism, cluster, that you are praying to St. Ronaldus every night to forgive you for being such a Pravda fan.
RE: I hope for the sake of your conservatism, cluster, that you are praying to St. Ronaldus every night to forgive you for being such a Pravda fan.
Orlando,
I hope you will pray to God your Creator that you can accept salvation before Jesus Christ returns the final time.
1 John 4:4 (ESV)
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
@Mark:
That would be the previous administration. You know, the one who started several wars while members of the administration, their relatives, family members and friends sat on the boards of various defense contractors and took bonuses. What better way to be corrupt and greedy than insist the country is at war, while sitting on the board of these companies. Talk about generating your own business, that’s a license to print money!
How do you think these lobbyists have productive input in these bills? They don’t write them themselves (though they might as well) – they do it by buying senators and congresscritters “favors” such as vacations in order to get their ear.
What makes this particular thing so hypocritical is you stood behind McCain when he was wanting to encourage it more and more and more, and yet you criticize the Democrats for doing it. What’s the betting that, had the Republicans won the election, you’d continue to do exactly what you were doing before the election – claiming that bills were written for the good of the country, not by lobbyists, and that the Democrats were the bad guys for opposing them!
AF,
You’ve got double nonsense, there.
Only in the paranoid, deluded minds of the left was there any war profiteering by members of the Bush Administration.
The one thing McCain had really going for him was his determination to clear out the corruption in DC – there is no way McCain would be tolerating the corruption that Obama is positively encouraging.
Only in the paranoid, deluded minds of the left was there any war profiteering by members of the Bush Administration.
To put this sort of statement in perspective, Mark also thinks that the Bush administration was the most honest administration ever and that Bush never once told a lie.
Again, what was probably supposed to be an opportunity for rational people to discuss politics and different points of view has degenerated into a Lefty spitefest and an exercise in dredging up old delusional fantasies about BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Give it a rest, people. You hated Bush, you needed to validate your hatred so you invented things to hate about him, you got into a quite a little cottage industry of trading hate-based delusions about him, you branched off into inventing hate-based delusions about those who thought you were insane for clinging to your hate-based delusions about him, and now that he is gone you look for any excuse to drag those delusions out and wallow in them some more.
There are some sane, rational, liberals out there. There are good, honest, intelligent Democrats in this country. But the element of the Left represented on this blog is just plain insanely vicious and goofy. Just LOOK at the crap you believe in!! And just LOOK at the pleasure you take in wallowing in it!
Too too creepy.
RE: Mark also thinks that the Bush administration was the most honest administration ever and that Bush never once told a lie.
To my recollection he didn’t.
Obama on the other hand, is an habitual liar.