Public Servants Lead Charge Back To Expensive Travel
This week we were treated to the riveting story of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, who used state funds to meet his lady-love journalist in Buenos Aires. Sanford told his staff he was on a much more modest jaunt to the Appalachian Trail, which indicates that maybe he had a shred of shame about the whole business, but in the end, he said, "Well, it's not like I have any presidential ambitions, right?" Last year's luv guv Eliot Spitzer opted for the more budget-friendly train tickets and D.C. hotel accommodations, but those were different times.
Sanford's not the only one who feels the world has turned around enough to allow for gleeful spoiling at taxpayer expense: The Detroit Free Press reported that the trustees of the city pension fund spent $380,000 on travel last year, and then tried to cover it up when the paper sued for records. With 21 trustees, that's an average of $18,095 per person, although one trustee, Ronald Gracia, spent $105,000 of it alone, including an $18,600 trip to Hong Kong.
He must have some information we don't, because municipal pensions took a major hit last year and will need to have a few record-breaking years in a row in order to make up the difference. Other international destinations included pricey Dubai and Edinburgh, Scotland. Spend on, for tomorrow we will either die or get pushed out of office.
Sanford has promised to reimburse taxpayers for his definitely non-budget vacation, which included a $8,687 plane ticket. Seriously?! Can someone in the gov's office start using Airfare Watchdog?
Related Stories:
· Adventures of Link: Spitzer and Sex Tourism [Jaunted]
· City pension trustees take flight on funds' tab [Free Press]
· Where The New Luv Guv Should Have Gone in Buenos Aires [Jaunted]
· U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending Rises, Stimulus Lifts Incomes [Bloomberg]
· Sanford Will Reimburse Taxpayers [WYFF]
· What Recession coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: The New Liberator]
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