Posted on 08/25/2005 3:10:32 AM PDT by looney tune
WASHINGTON
Getting President Bush from here to there consumes an enormous amount of fuel, whether he's aboard Air Force One, riding in a helicopter or on the ground in a heavily armored limousine. The bill gets steeper every day as the White House is rocked by the same energy prices as regular drivers. Taxpayers still foot the bill.
Almost every vehicle Bush uses is custom-made to add security and communications capabilities, and the heavier weight of these guzzlers further drives up gas and jet fuel costs.
The White House declines to discuss travel costs related to the presidential entourage, and did not respond to a request for the overall effect of higher fuel prices on its budget.
It is not Bush's choice to be ferried around in a less than fuel- efficient manner. Those arrangements are dictated by tradition and the Secret Service, whose mission is to protect him.
But Bush is one of the nation's most-traveled presidents.
He has visited 46 countries, some of them several times, during his presidency. He has been to all states except Vermont and Rhode Island.
So far this year, he has made 73 domestic and foreign trips, including crisscrossing the country on a 60-day, 60-city tour to promote his Social Security plan. He was on the road Wednesday, speaking to a military audience in Idaho, before returning to his Texas ranch to resume his summer vacation.
About the only vehicle Bush has much say in is the 2001 white Ford F250 pickup he keeps on his ranch. At the nationwide gasoline average of $2.61 a gallon, it would cost at least $75 to fill the Ford's tank. The 1999 four-wheel-drive model gets 13 miles per gallon in the city, 17 on the highway, according to an Energy Department Web site, http://www.fueleconomy.gov .
But much as he seems to relish any chance to get behind the wheel, Bush actually drives the pickup very little, confined as he is to only occasional visits to his ranch and to remaining on its 1,600 acres when he's driving himself.
Elsewhere, whether in Washington, Des Moines or Tbilisi, Bush is driven in a large motorcade. The typical presidential caravan has well over a dozen vehicles, including Bush's limousine and an identical limo put in as a decoy.
The motorcade generally doesn't cruise placidly at fuel-efficient speeds, but rather hurries along its route as fast as possible. It also often idles outside while Bush is at an event, burning up fuel but ready to depart at a moment's notice.
The president's limos alone consume lots of gas.
Starting with his inaugural in January, Bush began tooling around in new 2006 Cadillac DTS limos.
The full-sized luxury sedan version, available to the general public, has an 18-gallon tank that would cost about $47 to fill at that $2.61- a-gallon rate. (White House vehicles are fueled at a special, dedicated facility and the price paid per gallon there is not released.) Cadillac spokesman Kevin Smith said the Cadillac DTS sedan gets 18 mpg in the city, 27 on the highway.
The vehicle Bush uses is a much different animal _ with different gas mileage. An outside company customizes the DTS for presidential use by "stretching" it to limo length, adding bulletproof glass, heavy armor and other bells and whistles _ all making it significantly heavier and less fuel-efficient, Smith said.
The same thing for the Chevrolet Suburbans that are sometimes used as limo substitutes. The mass-marketed 2005 K1500 Suburban would cost nearly $81 to fill up with its large 31-gallon tank. It gets 15 mpg in the city, 19 on the highway, according to http://www.fueleconomy.gov . But it's not clear exactly which trim model of Suburban Bush uses, and his are custom-fitted with extra gear that would reduce the gas mileage.
In the air, Bush most often flies on a Boeing 747-200B laden with, among other things, an anti-missile system. Like gas for cars, fuel costs for the largest plane in the Air Force One fleet have gone up dramatically _ from $3,974 an hour in fiscal 2004 to $6,029 per hour now, according to the Air Force.
John Armbrust, publisher of Jet Fuel Report, said Air Force One is no different from its commercial counterparts in that respect.
"It's an expensive proposition to fly these planes, whether its Air Force One or a regular 747," he said.
Reducing his appearances outside the White House and making other gestures toward fuel conservation could help cut down on costs.
But some suggest that could do more harm for national morale and Bush's image than good for the financial bottom line.
Remember Jimmy Carter donning a sweater and asking Americans facing an energy crisis to turn down their thermostats? Or giving the speech about the nation's "crisis of confidence" that led to his permanent association with "malaise?" Carter's critics turned both utterances into emblems that contributed to his political undoing.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
BARF ALERT = JENNIFER LOVEN ALERT
(Check out some of her personal history archived on FR)
But Bush is one of the nation's most-traveled presidents.You know, it was Bildo they were talking about here, they'd be all full of praise for how he's getting around and keeping in touch with the people and the world....He has visited 46 countries, some of them several times, during his presidency. He has been to all states except Vermont and Rhode Island.
-Eric
Oh, he got around alright!! He had a fleet of bimbos!
I cannot believe this drivel. Things like this are PRECISELY why I do not watch TV or read newspapers. My time is too valuable to wade through rubbish like this.
Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.
I saw another Freeper post this graphic, in the context of referring to the Libs over at DU and Karl Rove. When I read this, excrement disguised as journalism, this is what I feel like:
Deport ALL illegals. Emissions drop, (CO²) fuel supplys SOAR, we have to export gas to get rid of it. The benefits are amazing. Not to mention REQUIRED by law.!!!!
Not only did El Presidente Clinton log more miles, and more days abroad than any President in history, his foreign travel was over three times that of any President. Why?
When Clinton traveled, he brought along more strap hangers than anyone. Moreover, he demanded more support. During his Africa trip, almost the entire nation's fleet of C-5 cargo aircraft were tied up supporting this man. Think about that.
To add even more gasoline to this fire, Hillary abused the military travel fleet like no first lady in history. Not only did she go on useless "Chick Trips" with her favorite female reporters to foreign lands, she took Chelsea on "Spring Break" vacations at the taxpayer expense.
Oh, and let us not forget Hillary's abuse of military aircraft during her Senate campaign. She was using a C-20B (a Gulfstream IV executive jet) to fly all over New York state to campaign--Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, etc. When called on it by the Washington Times, Hillary got the Secret Service to lie and say she needed the aircraft for "security" purposes. When that lie was exposed (she had SS protection no matter what aircraft she flew), Hillary agreed to reimburse the Government 1 first class round trip ticket--a pittance compared to its operating cost. In short, while poor Rick Lazio had to pay for his travel, Hillary got a free ride for herself and her cronies.
And this Jennifer Lunatic from the AP has the audacity to criticize President Bush's travel?
Dear AP--you are not journalists. You are propaganda spin artists for the Democratic Party, and you should be ashamed.
Hmm funny how dear little Jenny (AKA the AP Donkey) never worried about how much gas the Clinton's and their pet stooges, burned flying around the world on our $.
This POS article graced the below the fold front page our our local fishwrap this morning. Good grief.
A couple of points about this one of many
blatent attacks against the President of
the United States, by the Associated Press:
I remember when the so called "MSM", couldn't
get enough of calling Bush a provincial bimpkin
and geo-politically ignorant, because he had
never travelled outside of the US! He had
never been to the "Mecca" of DemoSocialist
haute culture...(hah!)..to learn how to be
a truly cosmopolitain effete "intellectual"...
Also,...I seem to remember reading a story
a few years back, That President *Bush* had
seen to it, that several alternative power
systems were installed at the White House,
(cutting edge photo-voltaics, heat pump..etc..)
as a way to not only provide emergenct power,
but to see the new alternative power systems,
first hand....i have no doubt that there is at
least *one* fuel cell, somewhere on the
white House grounds...
Another pile of feces, from a usual AP
pig-beast liar.
Front page! You have got to be kidding me! Well, I guess the homeless will be front and center next. They haul out all these issues when the Republicans are in power.
Maybe all of the libs/anti-Bush crowd should stay home and not drive to work, saving tons of gas! Oh, wait a minute! They don't work!
LOL!!
Thanks for reminding me of yet another reason Carter was one of, if not the most ineffective Presidents this country had.
Air Force 1 was going there anyway, and he just hitched a ride. Wasn't that Huffington's rationale?
Geez, I didn't read about the gas guzzling busses used to force children in the early 70's to be bussed to school during the gas shortage back then.
Oh, I forgot, it was a Democrat as President back then. Shame on me. I hope I'm not arrested by the thought police.
Jennifer Loven is married to Roger Ballentine, who is president of Green Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in energy and environmental issues, and was previously deputy assistant to President Clinton for environmental initiatives and chairman of the White House Climate Change Task Force.
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