Greetings! An article from a WFMY News in July of this year broke
down the following expenses:
"Here's how the costs of a presidential visit breaks down.
"Whether Bush wears the hat of Commander in Chief or head of
Republican Party--he is always president. So the Government pays for
100 percent of the President's transportation on Air Force One,
regardless of the trip's purpose.
"A ride on the presidential jet costs anywhere from $34,000 to $56,000
per hour.
"The government also pays all of the expenses for air support,
security like secret service and communications. Experts say those
expenses are hard to track because they're divided among the Pentagon
and transportation department.
"Taxpayers also pick up the food, hotel, and car rental tabs for most
of his entourage.
"The White House says the average cost runs from $22,000 to $59,000
per trip.
"When it comes to the fundraising portion of the trip like President
Bush's speech at Grandover, the candidate's campaign and the national
political party pay back the White House for costs like cars and hotel
rooms for advance workers."
The Washington Post had this to say about it:
"Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee say the White House
has been so aggressive about using travel accounting rules to benefit
Republicans that they may challenge the administration during hearings
on the treasury-postal appropriations bill, which are expected next
month. The administration has requested an increase in the White House
travel budget from $1.6 million to $3.8 million. About $1 million is
earmarked for Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge.
"At a time when we are desperately trying to put every dime we can
into securing our country after September 11th, the president needs to
explain why he thinks taxpayers should foot the enormous bill for him
to gallivant across the country doing $1,000-a-plate dinners with his
friends," said David J. Sirota, the committee's Democratic spokesman.
The text below is from the article "Campaigning on the Taxpayer's
Buck" from The Waste Basket, located on a site titled Taxpayers for
Common Sense:
"In order for this type of fundraising trip to qualify as "official"
and merit taxpayer financing, an additional event is also scheduled
where the President drops by a local site to put in an appearance and
give a speech. These so-called policy events are rarely picked up by
the national news media and it's questionable whether they would have
ever been scheduled were it not for their piggybacking onto a campaign
event. In many instances, the President's remarks at the official
component of the trip aren't really distinguishable from his political
stump speeches.
"The real travesty is the fact that this taxpayer waste, as well as
the administration's unwillingness to disclose these figures, has
increased exponentially with each election year. President Bush has
already out-traveled President Clinton on political trips during his
first 16 months in office. This year he will be making stops in all of
the states where there are competitive Senate races."
I could locate no actual figures adding it all up, and if you need a
clarification. please ask. I enjoyed researching this question
because I had never thought about the fact of my President spending my
money to raise money for a candidate with whose party I am not
affiliated.
It is an interesting enlightenent.
SEARCH TERMS and LINKS:
president bush travel cost to taxpayers [Google search}
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=president+bush+travel+cost+to+taxpayers
WFMY News
http://www.wfmynews2.com/2wk/2wk.asp?ID=590
washingtonpost.com: On the Way to the Fundraiser
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A42530-2002May19?language=printer
president bush travel expenses taxpayers [Google search]
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=president+bush+travel+expenses+taxpayers
Waste Basket Vol. VII No. 21: Campaigning on the Taxpayers' Buck
http://www.taxpayer.net/TCS/wastebasket/budget/05-23-02campaigntravel.htm
Taxpayers for common sense
http://www.taxpayer.net |
Clarification of Answer by
journalist-ga
on
20 Sep 2002 07:22 PDT
Greetings again. I have continued to search for additional documents,
especially one which would give a cost breakdown of each area of
travel. But none is forthcoming. It's annoying to think the answer
is impossible to locate.
However, I found additional commentary that explains more of why a
total of expenses may be impossible to find. From an article titled
"The Expense of Presidencies" By Randall Dicks, located at Constantian
Society:
"Security: The Secret Service is reluctant to provide figures. on the
theory that telling how much is spent on security might reveal how
much security there is. The Washington Post estimated the amount in
1992 at $140 million for protection for the President, Vice President,
and their immediate families (Washington Post, December 3, 1992).
"Air Force One: Costs of air travel by the President (provided by the
89th Airlift Wing of the United States Air Force) are difficult to
determine; this is in part intentional, for security reasons, and in
part because costs are spread over a number of agencies (Departments
of State and Defense, Air Force, General Services Administration). Two
new Boeing 747-200B's were purchased for presidential use in 1990, at
a cost of approximately $650 million, plus $140 for a "maintenance and
support complex" (an enormous hangar) at Andrews Air Force Base.
Columnist Hugh Sidey wrote at the time, ""Americans are spending the
better part of a billion dollars to get their President airborne, and
then it will cost around $6,000 an hour to keep him aloft. That's more
than the gross national product of Greenland." (Time, January 15,
1990.) In 1992, the Washington Post reported an estimated annual
travel cost of $185 million (Washington Post, October 19, 1992)."
The entire article from which the above was taken offers the total
expenses of other countries' figureheads as well as the US. It's an
interesting read.
Since the answer to your question seems very elusive, I will continue
to look for actual figures though I can understand the security
concerns of above. In addition, there would be expenses from
taxpayers in specific states the president visited such as receptions,
gifts, etc. From what I have found in the public domain concerning
your question, it would seem the American taxpayers are the ones being
taken for the ride...
SEARCH TERM and LINK:
president US travel expenses
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=president+US+travel+expenses
TCS - EXPENSE OF PRESIDENCIES
http://members.tripod.com/~constantian/expense2.html
|
,
0 Comments
)