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To: Mephisto who wrote (4529)	9/26/2002 12:47:51 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

Cheney wants more travel money ''The president and vice president need to realize they are public officials at a time of war, not a pair of playboys who can jet-set around every night doing cocktail party fundraisers on the public's dime.'' usatoday.com By Laurence McQuillan USA TODAY WASHINGTON -- Vice President Cheney, whose travel this year has been mainly trips to ''secure undisclosed locations'' and Republican fundraisers, has exceeded his travel budget and is asking Congress to approve shifting $100,000 from other White House accounts to cover the tab. Congress approved $386,000 for travel by the vice president this year and authorized the White House to spend an additional $50,000 if necessary -- a total of $436,000. So far, Cheney's travel costs for the year total $432,000, but the figure is expected to go higher because of lag time in processing bills. Lawmakers have yet to act on the request to shift $100,000. Last year, Cheney spent $287,000 on travel. The White House says Cheney exceeded the budget because of ''unexpected'' travel, including trips to secret locations that have become a standard security procedure since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The White House also blamed bad cost estimates. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Cheney and President Bush sharply curtailed travel for three months. Most of the vice president's travel since January has involved fundraising events for Republican candidates. The party or candidate pays part of the cost of political trips, but travel by the vice president involves staff, security and other trappings covered by the taxpayer. Today, Cheney is in Memphis to attend a luncheon for GOP Senate candidate Lamar Alexander and in Dallas for a dinner for congressional candidate Jeb Hensarling. Jennifer Millerwise, a spokeswoman for Cheney, emphasized that ''no extra funds are being requested.'' David Sirota, a spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, complained, ''The president and vice president need to realize they are public officials at a time of war, not a pair of playboys who can jet-set around every night doing cocktail party fundraisers on the public's dime.'' Millerwise dismissed the complaint as politically motivated. ''We are officially in the silly season,'' she said. usatoday.com

To: Mephisto who wrote (4529)	9/26/2002 12:52:43 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5185

Democrats to Let Navy Pay for Cheney's Electricity "Some Democrats have said it is wrong for Mr. Cheney to try to make others pay his electricity bill at a time when millions of Americans are struggling with their energy costs. July 31, 2001 From The New York Times By PHILIP SHENON WASHINGTON, July 30 - Senate Democratic leaders have decided for now to allow Vice President Dick Cheney to shift all the electricity bills for his official home to the Navy, a plan that had been criticized by Democrats as evidence of a double standard. A spending bill that includes the bookkeeping shift has already been approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and awaits a final vote on the Senate floor, possibly this week. The White House had requested the budget transfer, citing the large and fluctuating electricity bills for Mr. Cheney's 33-room residence, which is on the grounds of the Washington Naval Observatory. The energy bills - an estimated $134,000 this year - are currently shared between Mr. Cheney's official budget and the Navy, with the Navy paying most of the cost. Spokesmen for Mr. Cheney, the administration's point man on energy policy, said the shift would simplify government bookkeeping and would cost taxpayers nothing extra. Some Democrats have said it is wrong for Mr. Cheney to try to make others pay his electricity bill at a time when millions of Americans are struggling with their energy costs. But the chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees White House spending, Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, said he agreed to include the bookkeeping provision in the appropriations bill at the request of the White House. Mr. Dorgan said that while he did not think the Navy should be required to bear all the electricity costs at the home, he agreed to the plan because "this is a matter of comity between the Congress and the executive branch." The plan could now be blocked only by an amendment on the Senate floor, and Mr. Dorgan said he knew of no plans by his colleagues to offer such an amendment. There has been no similar sense of bipartisan good will on the issue in the House. A Democratic effort to block the White House plan failed in a House vote last week, 285 to 140. Mr. Cheney's office welcomed the Senate decision not to block the bookkeeping shift. Mary Matalin, Mr. Cheney's political adviser, said today, "The question is not why the Senate didn't make an issue of it; it's how obsessed the House Democrats are with making energy a political issue instead of helping with policy solutions." There is continuing debate between the Bush administration and former Clinton administration officials over who came up with the idea of the bookkeeping change. Mr. Cheney's office has said that the idea was proposed in the Clinton administration, when Vice President Al Gore lived in the house. A White House official who worked in both administrations, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Clinton administration had been near a final decision to make the Navy pay all the electricity bills. But former Clinton administration officials say that while they discussed a variety of bookkeeping shifts, they never came close to a decision to transfer the costs. They say they are being unfairly blamed for an embarrassing decision that is the responsibility of the Bush administration nytimes.com