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Posted on 01/16/2012 9:03:39 AM PST by marty60
epublican presidential candidate Ron Paul has been spending large amounts on airfare as a congressman, flying first class on dozens of taxpayer-funded flights to his home state. The practice conflicts with the image that Paul portrays as the only presidential candidate serious about cutting federal spending. Paul flew first class on at least 31 round-trip flights and 12 one-way flights since May 2009 when he was traveling between Washington and his district in Texas, according to a review by The Associated Press of his congressional office expenses. Four other round-trip tickets and two other one-way tickets purchased during the period were eligible for upgrades to first-class after they were bought, but those upgrades would not be documented in the expense records.
Paul, whose distrust of big government is the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, trusts the more expensive government rate for Continental Airlines when buying his tickets. Paul chose not to buy the cheaper economy tickets at a fraction of the price because they aren't refundable or as flexible for scheduling, his congressional staff said. "We always get him full refundable tickets since the congressional schedule sometimes changes quickly," said Jeff Deist, Paul's chief of staff. Paul might have to pay out of his own pocket for canceled flights in some cases if he didn't buy refundable tickets, Deist said. But records show that most of the flights for Paul were purchased well in advance and few schedule changes were necessary. Nearly two-thirds of the 49 tickets were purchased at least two weeks in advance, and 42 percent were bought at least three weeks in advance, the AP's review found. Paul charged taxpayers nearly $52,000 on the more expensive tickets, or $27,621 more than the.......
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/16/paul-plane-trips-draw-scrutiny-to-federal-spending-hawk/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo#ixzz1jdnQfv1M
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I’’m sure its a pittance to what the Obamas have spent....
I am NOT a Ron Paul fan, but I’ll bet this is very modest spending by congressional standards. They all spend money hand over fist, and live, dine, and travel like kings.
Ron Paul is a big porkulist, and the money involved in that is far larger.
Yes their personal spending reflects their attitude toward YOUR tax money.
Ron Paul is a big porkulist, and the money involved in that is far larger.
boy is that true.!!!
Ron Paul is a vote whore, will do and say anything to get your vote. What has Ron Paul accomplished towards those goals since he first go elected? ZERO!
This strikes me as one of those petty things probably put out their to distract from all of Paul’s real problems. This pales in comparison to his massive pork spending. This is nothing compared to calling Israel an apartheid state and saying they are running concentration camps while shortly later, saying we should have empathy for Iran.. and so on and so on and so on...
Paul should have to reimburse the taxpayers in gold.
So what? He’s still a liar and a hypocrite.
Read the article closely - He uses his mileage to upgrade to First Class.
And let’s figure it our 31 first class upgrades since 2009 - 3 years, that is 10 upgrades per year.
I’m guessing that most of the time he is just flying with the rest of us.
Finally - Dr. Paul never has spent his entire Congressional Budget for office expense. He returns some of his allocated budget every year
I'm not a fan either. I think members of Congress should be able to make a reasonable number of trips first class back to their districts as a legitimate expense. However, it should be done in the least expensive way possible. The tickets should be bought in bulk and any miles or other perks should be returned to the taxpayer.
Yeah I love the line. “Well if earmarks are available I will get them for my district” PARA
Hey Ron
“JUST SAY NO”
Practice what you preach.
like all politicians....
FULL OF BULL SHIT AND LIES!!!!
I am soooooooooooooooo tired of hypocrites.
Ron Paul has been spending large amounts on airfare as a congressman, flying first class on dozens of taxpayer-funded flights to his home state.
Flying first class on a scheduled air carrier is still a lot less expensive then flying to California weekly on her highness, madam Pelosi’s 757.
Not a dimes worth of difference. It’s about the sense of entitlement not the amt. How do they compare on earmarks?
Exactly. Wh oever brought this up had a lot of balls after we see the amounts Obama, his wife , Valerie Jarrett and Biden are spending flying around the country to fund raisers at our expense.
Paul chose not to buy the cheaper economy tickets at a fraction of the price because they aren't refundable or as flexible for scheduling, his congressional staff said.But y'know, it's not the principle of the thing that matters, it's the *dollar amount*...
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