Bush-Cheney had free use of Enron jets before they were "elected". In that world, as in the movie star world, rarely to they have to fly commercially.
Fact check time again. Your statement is inaccurate. As you well know, it is a common practice for Presidential candidates to use corporate jets. In compliance with the Federal Election Commission rules, the candidates are required to reimburse the corporations for the use of the jets. According to this article, during the 2000 election cycle the Bush campaign reimbursed 85 companies a total of $1.1 million of 350 flights. Enron was reimbursed $60,000 for 14 flights. Of course, Al Gore was flying in Air Force Two. Advantage Gore.
opensecrets.org
Flying High on Corporations
Bush campaign took advantage of company jets.
By Holly Bailey
Two weeks before Election Day last October, more than two dozen Republican governors convened at the governor's mansion in Austin, Texas, to launch what would be one of their final pushes of support for George W. Bush's bid for the presidency, all recounts aside.
The "Barnstorm the Country Tour," as the week-long swing was dubbed by the Bush campaign, would send the governors, divided into teams of three and four, to 48 cities in 25 battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Iowa, thus freeing Bush to spend his last hours in must-win states like Florida.When departure time came, the group, which included the likes of New York Gov. George Pataki and Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia, didn't have to worry about the hassles of checking their luggage. There was no waiting at a ticket counter, and when it came to fighting for room in an overhead bin, it didn't happen.
Thanks to what many deem a major loophole in federal election law, the governors were able to waltz straight past the delays of regular air travel and into the luxury and convenience of corporate jets borrowed from some of the nation's biggest companies, all for the price of a first class ticket.
On this particular week, the price tag was around $122,000, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission by the Bush campaign - a major discount on flights that usually cost in upwards of $1,000 per flight-hour. Among the dozen or so companies reimbursed for the governors' travel: MBNA America Bank, Sallie Mae and the American Financial Group, companies that also happen to rank among Bush's biggest corporate boosters.
Indeed, the list of companies providing such discounted travel reads almost identical to the list of major contributors to Bush's presidential campaign. Enron Corp, whose employees gave more than $118,000 to Bush, was reimbursed almost $60,000 for 14 flights during the campaign, including two flights reported after Election Day. Meanwhile, MBNA, Bush's top financial supporter with $238,000 in contributions, was paid nearly $20,000 for five flights.
Other companies have ties to Bush's so-called Pioneers, a network of 214 people who raised at least $100,000 for the Texas governor's presidential campaign. Occidental Chemical, whose CEO J. Roger Hirl is a Pioneer, was reimbursed more than $50,000 for 16 separate flights. Another $36,000 went to Texas Utilities, where chief executive Erle Nye also is a major Bush fundraiser.
Corporations
Bush campaign took advantage of company jets.
By Holly Bailey
Two weeks before Election Day last October, more than two dozen Republican governors convened at the governor's mansion in Austin, Texas, to launch what would be one of their final pushes of support for George W. Bush's bid for the presidency, all recounts aside.
The "Barnstorm the Country Tour," as the week-long swing was dubbed by the Bush campaign, would send the governors, divided into teams of three and four, to 48 cities in 25 battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Iowa, thus freeing Bush to spend his last hours in must-win states like Florida.When departure time came, the group, which included the likes of New York Gov. George Pataki and Gov. Jim Gilmore of Virginia, didn't have to worry about the hassles of checking their luggage. There was no waiting at a ticket counter, and when it came to fighting for room in an overhead bin, it didn't happen.
Thanks to what many deem a major loophole in federal election law, the governors were able to waltz straight past the delays of regular air travel and into the luxury and convenience of corporate jets borrowed from some of the nation's biggest companies, all for the price of a first class ticket.
On this particular week, the price tag was around $122,000, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission by the Bush campaign - a major discount on flights that usually cost in upwards of $1,000 per flight-hour. Among the dozen or so companies reimbursed for the governors' travel: MBNA America Bank, Sallie Mae and the American Financial Group, companies that also happen to rank among Bush's biggest corporate boosters.
Indeed, the list of companies providing such discounted travel reads almost identical to the list of major contributors to Bush's presidential campaign. Enron Corp, whose employees gave more than $118,000 to Bush, was reimbursed almost $60,000 for 14 flights during the campaign, including two flights reported after Election Day. Meanwhile, MBNA, Bush's top financial supporter with $238,000 in contributions, was paid nearly $20,000 for five flights.
Other companies have ties to Bush's so-called Pioneers, a network of 214 people who raised at least $100,000 for the Texas governor's presidential campaign. Occidental Chemical, whose CEO J. Roger Hirl is a Pioneer, was reimbursed more than $50,000 for 16 separate flights. Another $36,000 went to Texas Utilities, where chief executive Erle Nye also is a major Bush fundraiser.
All told, the Bush campaign reimbursed 85 companies $1.1 million for more than 350 flights on corporate jets during the 2000 election cycle. The campaign paid oil and gas companies $143,000 for use of their corporate jets; real estate companies were paid $96,000; $54,000 went to those in the railroad business; and electric utilities cracked the $51,000 mark.
While Bush paid about $3 million to charter his own private plane during his 20-month bid for the presidency, the borrowed jets were tapped to ferry Bush family members, his staff, and top supporters between campaign stops.
Halliburton Co., once home to Vice President Dick Cheney, was reimbursed $19,000 for flights reported mostly during June, July, and August of last year, presumably during Cheney's hunt for a Bush running mate. Incoming Commerce Secretary Don Evans' energy company, Tom Brown, was paid $24,000 by the Bush campaign for use of its corporate plane.
But the biggest reimbursement went to a company affiliated with Warren Tichenor, a San Antonio investor who advised Bush on gaining the Hispanic vote. W.W. Tichenor & Co. was paid more than $144,000 for use of its corporate jet. Tichenor, who holds a stake in dozens of Tejano music stations around the country, was one of the biggest contributors of in-kind travel costs during Bush's two previous gubernatorial campaigns, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Of course, none of this is new. Members of Congress and other political candidates often take advantage of the federal rules governing such travel, which lets them fly in the lap of luxury without the expensive price tag. Almost all of the presidential contenders during the 2000 election reported such expenditures, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who reported about $152,000 in fees for borrowed jets.
During the primary, Bush called McCain, a leading proponent of campaign finance reform, a hypocrite for taking money and corporate jet rides from companies that the senator oversees as head of the Senate Commerce Committee. "I'm not letting Senator McCain get away with this Washington doubletalk," Bush told reporters last February, even though at the time his campaign had taken almost twice as many rides on such jets.
Former Vice President Al Gore, in his bid for the White House, flew exclusively on Air Force Two, reimbursing the government only what it would have cost him to fly first class on a commercial airline. However, his campaign did report a few instances of corporate jet use during the Democratic primaries, including an $8,000 payment to the insurance company AFLAC. |
