How Many Private Jets Does it Take to Bring Four Democratic Senators...

[Gawain 0]

...to a Presidential debate in South Carolina from Washington DC?

Well, the four Senators that participated in the debate, all were in DC, and were voting on the DOA war funding bill. Each took their own private jet, including Sen. Obama.

How's that carbon footprint? What...a jet pool to and from to connect you with your own transportation later isn't more cost effective?

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[IanHarrop 37]

Competing senators in the same plane? Wouldn't all their super secret strategies for winning the presidency leak and cause them to lose any chance at winning?

I just can't see them all on the same airplane and able to keep their mouths shuts

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[DJL 232]

You make it sound as if the Senator were the only occupant of each plane and was sitting there with a plate of caviar and a glass of champagne. Sources please.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[NCclimber 0]

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You make it sound as if the Senator were the only occupant of each plane and was sitting there with a plate of caviar and a glass of champagne.

What specifically did he say that gave you that impression?

[kallend 1,623]

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...to a Presidential debate in South Carolina from Washington DC?

Well, the four Senators that participated in the debate, all were in DC, and were voting on the DOA war funding bill. Each took their own private jet, including Sen. Obama.

How's that carbon footprint? What...a jet pool to and from to connect you with your own transportation later isn't more cost effective?

Will you be keeping tabs on all party's candidates, or only those you don't approve of?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[DJL 232]

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You make it sound as if the Senator were the only occupant of each plane and was sitting there with a plate of caviar and a glass of champagne.

What specifically did he say that gave you that impression?

Nothing. That's my point, he painted a picture but didn't provide any details or sources. If I'm going to call my senator and give him shit then I need to know that he wasn't also transporting a plane full of 7-year-old cancer patients
.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[unformed 0]

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You make it sound as if the Senator were the only occupant of each plane and was sitting there with a plate of caviar and a glass of champagne.

What specifically did he say that gave you that impression?

Nothing. That's my point, he painted a picture but didn't provide any details or sources. If I'm going to call my senator and give him shit then I need to know that he wasn't also transporting a plane full of 7-year-old cancer patients from Ethiopia of course.
.

This ad space for sale.

[Amazon 7]

Hmmm... could you please do a companion thread for us.. on how many junkets Republican Lawmakers have been taking since ohhhhh say Jan of 2001???

No.... I didnt think so.

Oh thats right..... the airplanes and junkets were provided by Abramoff and friends..

[DJL 232]

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You make it sound as if the Senator were the only occupant of each plane and was sitting there with a plate of caviar and a glass of champagne.

What specifically did he say that gave you that impression?

Nothing. That's my point, he painted a picture but didn't provide any details or sources. If I'm going to call my senator and give him shit then I need to know that he wasn't also transporting a plane full of 7-year-old cancer patients from Ethiopia of course.
.

They really do fetch a fine price in the pharmaceutical research field, you know.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[Andy9o8 0]

This thread conjures up an image in my head of McCain, Giuliani and Romney all sleeping in one big cramped train berth like The Three Stooges.

[mnealtx 0]

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Hmmm... could you please do a companion thread for us.. on how many junkets Republican Lawmakers have been taking since ohhhhh say Jan of 2001???

No.... I didnt think so.

Heres one from 2005:

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Fun With Numbers - Congressional Junket Edition

In a four-and-a-half month investigation, Marketplace, American RadioWorks, and a team of graduate students from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism cataloged every privately sponsored trip taken by members of the House and Senate since the year 2000. Here's some interesting facts about the Congressional junkets - all of which were paid for by private groups.

Democratic Party
Percentage of seats in Congress controlled (currently): 46%
Number of trips for party members: 2729
Total spent on party members: $7,805,362.87
Percentage of total spent on party: 54.3%
Percentage of the top 100 travelers (by cost): 57%

Republican Party
Percentage of seats in Congress controlled (currently): 54%
Number of trips for party members: 2095
Total spent on party members: $6,512,990.35
Percentage of total spent on party: 45.3%
Percentage of the top 100 travelers (by cost): 43%

Bonus Stat: Tom DeLay comes in a lowly 29th on the list of top 100 Congressional trip takers, though he does score two trips in the top 5 most expensive individual trips.

And another from recent news:

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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.”

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

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.

"We will make this the most honest and ethical Congress in history" - Nancy Pelosi

"Yeah, right..." - Mike Neal

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[NCclimber 0]

Look at how things have changed with the Dems in power.

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Democrats in Congress appear to be taking full advantage of the "pay to play" system they said led to a "climate of corruption" under Republicans, an ABC News investigation has found.

"Washington looks pretty much the same as it always did," said Ellen Miller of the Sunlight Foundation, despite Democratic promises of reform.

Campaign finance records made public this week show Democratic congressional campaign committees taking in substantially more in contributions than their Republican counterparts.

According to the records, the Democratic House and Senate committees reported $32.7 million in contributions. The Republican committees reported $22.9 million.

One of the Democrats' biggest fundraisers, held at a private estate in suburban Washington, required lobbyists and other big donors to pay as much as $28,000 to have dinner and access to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic House leaders.

During last year's campaign, Pelosi strongly criticized Republican fundraising efforts.

"The Republicans have turned Congress into an auction house, for sale to the highest bidder. You have to pay to play," she said as the Democrats announced how they planned to reform Congress.

Lobbyists say little has actually changed in Washington, other than with the Democrats in power, they are in a position to collect the largest share of the contributions.

"There's a cuisine and place to greet your favorite politicians in almost any hour of the day or night in Washington," said Tony Podesta, a leading lobbyist and Democratic party fundraiser.

Democrats say they have moved to change rules banning meals, gifts and trips from lobbyists and plan to introduce a more comprehensive reform bill in the next few weeks.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/congressional_d.html

[Amazon 7]

Can you provide their itineraries please?

I would really hate to get irate over actual official business... for EITHER party...

[kelpdiver 2]

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Can you provide their itineraries please?

I would really hate to get irate over actual official business... for EITHER party...

If we're talking about the Caribbean trip, the 'business' element was they were inspecting the job of homeland security. Total bullshit - they deserve the flack they're getting.

Overall, the Democrats wasted very little time showing the typical behavior of the majority party.

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Did all leave at the same time? How many people traveled with them? It is logistically possible to guess that 4 jets were physically needed.


Know what the biggest issue with politics and those who follow (and I have been guilty of this)....is the desire to 'score' one against the other side, to get another zinger in, to spin the top one more time and focus more on rhetoric. To make it worse, we have individuals on both sides of the aisle making the situation worse by leading the debate with jokes and insults (Daily Show, Coulter, etc). Not only do both sides buy into their own rhetoric, they use it as a way to debate each other! Meanwhile, no one is held accountable, the rhetoric fails to see a follow through too many times and public policy becomes seperated from what the public wants.

I'm tired of it all and I only see it getting worse from here on out.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[Amazon 7]

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Not only do both sides buy into their own rhetoric, they use it as a way to debate each other! Meanwhile, no one is held accountable, the rhetoric fails to see a follow through too many times and public policy becomes seperated from what the public wants.

I'm tired of it all and I only see it getting worse from here on out.

Term limits... 1 term and go back to doing something respectable.

NO campaign contributions...( eliminate the bribery) to ANYONE.... you donate to a general fund that ALL share from for elections.

[mnealtx 0]

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Not only do both sides buy into their own rhetoric, they use it as a way to debate each other! Meanwhile, no one is held accountable, the rhetoric fails to see a follow through too many times and public policy becomes seperated from what the public wants.

I'm tired of it all and I only see it getting worse from here on out.

Term limits... 1 term and go back to doing something respectable.

NO campaign contributions...( eliminate the bribery) to ANYONE.... you donate to a general fund that ALL share from for elections.

Amen!!! Although I'd probably make it two terms, max

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[jpjc2000 0]

Nice try, as usual, at diversion...I guess we both missed the repukes debate and only commented on the dem-dummies...

[airtwardo 6]

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Oh thats right..... the airplanes and junkets were provided by Abramoff and friends..

Well Jeeze, 'Zon....ya gotta figure they didn't wanna get caught 'waiting' behind another $40,000.00 LAX main runway Democratic haircut did they!?

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[SwampThing 0]

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Oh thats right..... the airplanes and junkets were provided by Abramoff and friends..

Well Jeeze, 'Zon....ya gotta figure they didn't wanna get caught 'waiting' behind another $40,000.00 LAX main runway Democratic haircut did they!?

Did anyone ever figure out just how MUCH jetA a 74's APU gulps for a blow dry and style???

If poor those dead dinosaurs only knew what their bodies would be used for!

The Pessimist says: "It can't possibly get any worse!"
The Optimist says: "Sure it can!"

[akarunway 1]

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...to a Presidential debate in South Carolina from Washington DC?

Well, the four Senators that participated in the debate, all were in DC, and were voting on the DOA war funding bill. Each took their own private jet, including Sen. Obama.

How's that carbon footprint? What...a jet pool to and from to connect you with your own transportation later isn't more cost effective?

DAMN G. You're not going lib on me are ya?

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[masterrig 1]

Term limits... 1 term and go back to doing something respectable.

NO campaign contributions...( eliminate the bribery) to ANYONE.... you donate to a general fund that ALL share from for elections.

[kelpdiver 2]

Since legislators know very little about skydiving or aviation, who do they consult with on a subject? Lobbyists.

They're only a dirty word when they support a different position than your's. Otherwise, they're quite useful.

[NCclimber 0]

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They're only a dirty word when they support a different position than your's. Otherwise, they're quite useful.

Theoretically, you're right. In the current political climate, the big money lobbyists are getting the most benefit from legislators.

[kelpdiver 2]

further on all these nonsense suggestions - short term limits will increase the legislators' dependence on lobbyists.

Hardly a step forward.