Air Pelosi

February 10, 2007 -- THURSDAY morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped out of her Georgetown home and into a government-owned black Chevy Tahoe SUV. That gas-guzzler truck took her directly to the Rayburn House Office Building - where she was the lead witness at a Science and Technology Committee hearing on global warming.
This, the day after word broke of Pelosi's request for regular use of a U.S. Air Force C-32 - the same plane that flies the vice president and first lady.

She wants to travel in luxury. The Air Force jet is the same size and airframe as the Boeing 757-200, which carries about 300 passengers. The C-32 boasts 42 business-class seats - plus a wood-paneled state room, big-screen TV, full-size bed and crew of 16, including uniformed stewards who bring drinks and meals on request. Oh, and an open bar.

Cost to taxpayers? Some $15,000 an hour.

A round-trip to Rep. Pelosi's home in San Francisco could easily run $300,000. Meanwhile, the same flight on a commercial jet can run less than $300.

Pelosi campaigned on the promise that she would clean up the GOP's waste and abuse of taxpayer's dollars. So why doesn't she use the little commuter jet that the Air Force lent to Dennis Hastert, the previous speaker?

She said it was "not big enough" to accommodate her staff, supporters and other members of the California delegation. Also, it would have to stop to refuel. "There's a certain amount of inefficiency and risk involved in stopping and having to refuel," a Pelosi spokesman said.

Pelosi doesn't understand why the vice president and first lady rate a bigger plane than she does, when she is two heartbeats away from the presidency.

Maybe she just doesn't want to fly like the rest of us, enduring long lines and security hassles. On Pelosi's "Air Force Three," there'll be no waiting, no metal detectors, no searches - and the plane leaves when she says it does.

If anything, the Democratic speaker has the Republicans beat on both wasteful spending and elitism. And that takes some doing.

Then there's the speaker's concerns about global warming. In flight, the C-32 pumps out 10,000-plus pounds an hour of CO2, the main pollutant that greens finger in global warming. A single round-trip to San Francisco would produce more than 50 tons of pollutants. How can she have her plane and complain about global warming too?

Recently, Pelosi requested a military plane to fly her to a Democratic Party retreat in Williamsburg, Va. - just a two-hour drive from the nation's capitol. The Defense Department said no. (No word if she took her taxpayer-subsidized SUV instead.)

But it may prove politically risky for the Bush administration to keep saying no. Pelosi ally Jack Murtha chairs the subcommittee that controls the Pentagon's money. The Washington Times reports that Murtha has telephoned Bush officials, demanding that they give her the plane.

Worse, one source tells me, is what Democrats are reporting of that conversation - the implied threat that Murtha made: You want money for the Iraq war? You better give the speaker her plane.

Republicans were quick to point out that, in the same week that Pelosi endorsed a resolution that the president's troop surge is "not in the national interest of the United States," she asked that military resources be diverted to her personal travel. What's her concept of national interest?

This issue is larger than party politics. Congress should live under the laws it makes for the rest of us - gas taxes, plane travel and all. If Congress' leaders find these too onerous, they can change them for all of us.

Congress could learn a lesson from Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles. On their last visit to America, they flew commercial.

 

This story has already been debunked pretty thoroughly, Boom.

But thanks for playing. We have some nice parting gifts for you.

 

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Pentagon agreed to provide the House speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips back home. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, flew in a small commuter-sized Air Force jet.

Pelosi said she would be happy to fly on commercial airliners but said the House sergeant-at-arms office urged her to continue Hastert's practice of using Air Force transport. She said she was informed on her first trip home that her plane would not make it across the country.

"I said well, that's fine, I'm going commercial," she told Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren. "I'm not asking to go on that plane. If you need to take me there for security purposes, you're going to have to get a plane that goes across the country, because I'm going home to my family."

 

The White House has called the bogus stories "Silly".

From the Washington Post:

"Q You called the Pelosi plane issue a 'silly story' this morning. Shortly thereafter the RNC put out a statement saying -- calling it 'Pelosi's power trip' and that she's 'non-stop Nancy seeks flight of fancy.' Are you calling that --

"MR. SNOW: Well, I'll reiterate our position. The question -- the RNC has put out a statement on Speaker Pelosi and travel arrangements, and I'll just repeat our position, which is, as Speaker of the House, she is entitled to military transport, and that the arrangements, the proper arrangements are being made between the Sergeant of Arms office in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Department of Defense. We think it's appropriate, and so, again, I think this is much ado about not a whole lot. It is important for the Speaker to have this kind of protection and travel. It was certainly appropriate for Speaker Hastert. So we trust that all sides will get this worked out."

Reporters were amazed.

"Q Can I go back to the Pelosi issue? The Republican National Committee is putting out press releases. Is the RNC now beyond the President's purview? If you think it's a silly story, is there -- they're able to just operate if they want to attack like that on their own?

"MR. SNOW: Well, apparently they did this time. (Laughter.)"

Really amazed.

"Q Just going back to the Pelosi story for a moment, just to clarify, is there no message coordination between you guys and the RNC?

"MR. SNOW: There is from time to time, yes. But in this particular case, we've got a clear view."

When Tony Snow takes a pass, you know it's pure bullshit.

Not that it won't be effective in ginning up the troglodyte base, but c'mon, Boom.

I'd rather see a silly John Kerry picture again.

 

So are you saying that she was not driven in an SUV to the global warming conference?

 

Yes, Boom. That is exactly what I'm saying. You've driven right to the heart of the matter.

Yours is truly a keen intellect.

 

Yeah, but I'm guessing they're the ones who leaked the story to start with.

 

Certainly. But they have no interest in being attached to it, either.

For guys who stuck by the Swift Boaters, that should say something, no?

 

wow geke you are awful defensive about this. Do you have a picture of Nancy being driven around in her Prius?

 

Boom --
Give it up, please.
Even by your standards, this is pretty weak.
Where's the link from, BTW?

 

Fenian --I wish I had a nickle for everytime that you have told me to give it up when I've brought up uncomfortable information about the democrat party.

Based on the Dr Z thread it sounds like you best tend to your own house

 

The people responsible no longer work for the program here, Boom.