After a $24B shutdown, you think they'd actually try to look like they're working.

It's all fun and games for them...

They spend very little of their own money in passing legislation and in budgeting.

I know for business travel, it's cheaper to charter a plane when about 3 people are flying from and to the same place. Refundable/changeable tickets are much more expensive than the ones we buy for ourselves for vacations.

So I'd expect it to cost less for the DoD to fly a bunch of them on one plane than for each of them to buy a commercial ticket (which would be reimbursed)

Pisses me off seeing food stamp cutbacks coming in November, but they don't blink an eye when it comes to spending it on themselves.

Just irritates the hell out of me to hear the repugs badmouthing food stamp recipients as lazy cheaters, living high on the hog robbing the taxpayers. Truth is, that description fits Congress perfectly.

NOBODY SHOULD FEEL ASHAMED OR EMBARRASSED IF THEY NEED TO USE FOOD STAMPS!!

They're the ones who get to decide how to spend taxpayer money.

If you'd prefer, we could spend more money buying them commercial tickets instead. They are reimbursed for official travel.

He was outraged, OUTRAGED I tell you, that the President and his wife went out for dinner on the taxpayers' dime. Wonder if he'll be outraged by this?

He should advocate that every worker get the same benefit.

On second thought, that would likely piss him off.

When Bankruptin' Ronnie was president, Nancy was aghast when she got her first bill for dining services. The White House serves five-star cuisine, and charges accordingly.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/20681/who-pays-obama-familys-food

Worse, he believes them.

The President may get a place to live but he and his family don't get free meals as part of the deal. The President pays for all common expenses like food, decor and such in the residence. If he and Mrs. Obama go out to dinner the Obamas pay the dinner tab - not the taxpayers. That's just more right-wing foolishness that they never seemed to have an issue with when a Republican is in office.

Also, I believe if they fly somewhere for personal, rather then official business they have to pay a standard airfare for that. I know that doesn't come close to covering the cost of Air Force one but it's something. Not totally sure about this but I'll google to see if I can find confirmation.

taking into consideration of course that these people would have been paid regardless. Maybe the gas for the limo was an extra expense.

if I owned a restaraunt and he and the wife came in, they would not be billed. How cool is it to say that the president eats at your place? It is like free publicity.

for Frank Lautenberg's funeral?

and he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Military aircraft was also used in recent months to transport lawmakers to the funerals of Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/22/rules-on-congressional-military-flights-waived-for-bill-young-funeral/

budget. The hypocrisy is beyond comprehension.

Remember the kerfuffle over Nancy Pelosi's Air Force jet when she was Speaker? (Some Repubs claimed she ordered an extravagant military 757 for her personal use, when in fact it was a generic request from the House Sargent at Arms to the military to provide an airplane for her that could go from DC to SFO without refueling - for security reasons. The military provided a 757, which Pelosi refused to use because it was too expensive. But, that didn't stop Repubs from having an aneurysm over the fact that she was "living an extravagant lifestyle at taxpayer's expense".)

http://www.factcheck.org/2008/12/nancy-pelosis-personal-jet/

And, remember Obama's trip to India where the conservative asses went viral with assertions that it would cost $200M/day for his security?

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/11/obamas-india-trip----not-as-expensive-as-you-may-have-heard/1#.UmaJGnBvNCo

When I Googled the Obama India trip just now, a whole bunch of conservative web sites came up with this story highlighted - with no corrections or backtracking about it being a mistake by orders of magnitude. There are people out there who still believe this.

...bring a few cans of Febreze to ward off the stench.

I Googled this story to see if there was another source I could go to for the story, but the only web sites covering it right now (0725 hrs, PDT, 10-22-13) are whack-a-fuck conservative web sites. No lib or mainstream coverage.

And all of these are just pointing to the Washington Times story.

This is odd.

Really? They can't afford to simply pay their own way?

There have been plenty of people I've admired and loved, whose funerals I couldn't attend because I couldn't afford the airfare yet these MILLIONAIRES want the taxpayers to fund their trip to a friend's funeral?

I'd love to see how many Tea Baggers get on that plane...

So they wouldn't be paying their own way in either case.

With the short notice, you're not talking about that $300 ticket - it requires a lead time. You're probably talking about a full fare ticket, which is going to be around $1k each.

I strongly suspect it will cost us less for the DoD to fly them, since it's a large number flying from and to the same locations on the same schedule.

+ senior and AAA discounts available.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/10/22/rules-on-congressional-military-flights-waived-for-bill-young-funeral/

Rules on congressional military flights waived for Bill Young funeral

Lawmakers planning to attend the funeral of Rep. C. W. "Bill" Young (R-Fla.) will be able to fly to the Sunshine State aboard U.S. military aircraft -- an exception to an austerity-era rule restricting congressional use of government aircraft.

The office of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is arranging for a flight Thursday from Andrews Air Force Base to Florida to attend Young's funeral, with the aircraft scheduled to return Thursday evening, according to House aides. The decision comes even though Boehner earlier this year put in place rules requiring House lawmakers to seek permission from Boehner to use military aircraft on overseas trips, including trips to visit U.S. military service members in Iraq and Afghanistan, because of automatic budget cuts, known as sequestration.

In March Boehner required the House delegation attending the installation mass for Pope Francis to fly on a commercial aircraft to Rome.

So why the exception for Young? Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in an e-mail that "Given Rep. Young's long and distinguished service to his Congressional district, and especially to the men and women of our Armed Forces, the rule against military aircraft is waived for his funeral."

Young was a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee especially concerned with military spending.

No word yet from Boehner's office on how many lawmakers plan to attend -- but House GOP leaders cancelled plans to hold votes Thursday in order to permit lawmakers to attend the Young funeral.

Military aircraft was also used in recent months to transport lawmakers to the funerals of Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

Cost estimates for congressional military flights vary -- the Pentagon doesn't provide hard numbers -- with some academics estimating that the flights cost roughly $10,000 per hour. An investigation by a Florida newspaper this year found that at least 172 House lawmakers spent more than $1.5 million in 2012 visiting more than 90 countries on private commercial aircraft.

way? It's NOT official business.

They aren't attending the funeral because he was an old friend. They're attending because of his position in Congress.

(And, they literally are the ones who write the rules on what is official business)

if they don't want to pay for it, it suddenly becomes official business.

they guy to Washington D.C., maybe let him lie in state a day or so, have the funeral and ship him back to Florida.

He was already local.

and then shipped him home. Typical Republican methodology of only wasting as much money as possible.

That's the way those things usually work.

It will be interesting to see if they reimburse us for the costs.

Logical or sane...these are beyond "interesting times".

...and it would crash into Terry McAuliffe's house.

a lot of bottles of liquor will be destroyed along with several cartons of cigarettes.

with one hundred congresspeople on board? A flight to Florida is especially problematic. All one would need is a ground to air missile and a boat. That's an Al-Qaeda wet dream there folks. A commercial airliner probably wouldn't want the brain damage.

Can we change the locks while they are all out of town?

I'd send 'em down in this...

for the tea party caucus. Show them what less government buys you.

I was thinking more on the lines of packing the trailer with congressmen like a can of sardines, hooking an M-915 to it and heading south on 95.

Gingrich complained about he President making him exit from the rear of AF1 when they traveled to Israel for a state funeral? He also complained that the President didn't talk to him during that time? Let's see if some neo-con can't screw this trip up somehow and achieve similar results in the next election. It is kinda deja vu all over again.

Greedy bloodsuckers.

... because it really wouldn't be safe to fill a plane with Dems and Repukliklans.

They don't do this when a President dies, do they? I know the Rep Young was a long-time MIC activist, but isn't this a bit overkill?