Politics and Policy Politics as Usual: We Pay for It (April 18, 2006) Joel Connelly’s column in the Seattle P.I. points out that Cheney’s visit to Washington State was almost entirely paid for by the taxpayers. By making a quick stop to give an appearance at the Air Force base in Spokane, the trip to raise funds for local Republican congressional candidates was financed almost entirely by the U.S. taxpayers. I don’t have all the numbers available, but it seems to me that the cost of the trip and the amount of money raised was about equal. But they don’t offset each other; because you and I pay the cost, the Republican Congressional candidates get the cash. Only a small portion of the cost is paid by the Republican Party. Of course, Connelly’s article was mostly talking about the cost of operating Air Force 2 and flying the Vice President anywhere in the country. Those are mostly federal costs. We aren’t talking about the cost to the local jurisdictions, especially in police overtime. Snohomish County was particularly hard-hit by these visits, with the Cheney visit and China’s President Hu arriving shortly after one another. Connelly also pointed out that this is not necessarily unique to the Bush administration. All recent administrations have used the Presidential (or Vice-Presidential) travel privileges for political purposes. Connelly says: “We've just seen more flagrant use and abuse under Dubya and the Dicky bird.” I will also grant that the Bush administration is hardly the first to be guilty of this sin. And, of course, it is hard to separate the duties of the President and Vice President into “official” and “political” duties. They hold political offices, after all. But we seem to have crossed a line here beyond which few would argue. Since Republicans argue incessantly against waste in government spending, it seems hypocritical of them to so clearly use public funds for partisan benefit. Shouldn’t they be holding the high ground on this issue? Don’t hold your breath – these are the same people who see nothing wrong in the billions paid to Halliburton subsidiaries under “no-bid” government contracts. If Kerry had won the election and had handled itself this way, you can bet the Republicans would be screaming bloody murder. Posted by RHP6033        Copyright 2006-2007 - Brookridge Associates Inc. All rights reserved.