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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (346810)	2/1/2010 10:37:10 AM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 793978

The timing I think was probably more about being fed up. * * * *

To: unclewest who wrote (346810)	2/1/2010 10:41:00 AM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793978

That someone is a taxpayer too. Those bums are picking his/her pocket.

To: unclewest who wrote (346810)	2/1/2010 10:55:51 PM
From: KLP	2 Recommendations Respond to of 793978

Old IBD: Another whistle blower: --The Friendly Skies Of Nancy Pelosi Posted 06:49 PM ET Leadership: The speaker of the House wants to extend a proposed freeze on domestic programs to include defense spending. In a world of growing threats, perhaps she'd also like to cut her travel and bar bill. Last week the Russian air force celebrated the maiden flight of the Sukhoi T-50, Moscow's version of the American F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. We have shut down the F-22 production line, viewing it as an unaffordable and unnecessary extravagance. We mention this in light of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's statement that President Obama's proposed freeze on discretionary domestic programs should also cover defense expenditures. Unfortunately, our enemies aren't freezing their defense budgets. Russia and China are rapidly expanding their armed forces, China's to the point our military dominance in the Western Pacific is seriously challenged. As the Chinese prepare to go to the moon and we abandon manned space flight altogether, Beijing is testing a ballistic missile with a maneuverable warhead that can target American carrier battle groups and sink them. This is just one of the many threats we face and need to defend against. We have a nuclear-armed North Korea testing intercontinental missiles that can reach U.S. targets in Alaska, Hawaii and even the continental U.S. Iran is nearing its own nuclear capability and has an active missile program with new solid-fuel ballistic missiles that are mobile and do not need long launch preparations. Defense is not a discretionary budget item. It's a constitutional imperative and one of the reasons we have a government. The greatest social service a government can perform for its people is to keep them alive and free. "Everybody has to make a sacrifice," Pelosi was quoted as saying in an interview with Politico, shortly before Obama announced his proposed discretionary spending freeze in his State of the Union address. By everybody, she evidently was excluding herself; the speaker's interest in Air Force jets does not extend beyond the ones that fly her and her family around. Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch show that Pelosi has incurred expenses of $2.1 million for her use of Air Force jets the past two years. Then there's the matter of the $101,000 tab taxpayers picked up over that period for "in-flight services," including a selection of top-shelf booze. One receipt for "in-flight services," World Net Daily reports, showed a liquor purchase for one flight that included Maker's Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Bailey's Irish Creme, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewar's scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniel's whiskey and Corona beer. According to documents obtained by Judicial Watch, Pelosi has used Air Force aircraft to travel back to her district at average cost of $28,210.51 per flight. In 2007, Pelosi was criticized, justifiably, for using a 42-seat Air Force jet to taxi her and her staff from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., and back. Of 103 Pelosi-led congressional delegations, 31 trips included members of the speaker's family. Pelosi has reportedly requested on one occasion the dedicated use of an Air Force C-32, the military version of the Boeing 757-200 commercial jet that costs $22,000 an hour to operate. We suggest that since everybody has to make a sacrifice, it not come at the expense of the U.S. military. We can't build any more Raptors, but we can use Air Force jets as sky taxis for politicians who consider themselves too important to fly commercial. Thank you, taxpayer, for flying Air Pelosi. Now return your wallets to their upright and locked position. investors.com