Pelosi Aides’ Plane Pique
EmailABC News’ Rick Klein reports: E-mails obtained by a conservative government watchdog group are reigniting a two-year-old political fight over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s use of military aircraft for travel. The e-mails — obtained and released publicly by Judicial Watch — show several instances where Department of Defense officials complain about last-minute Pelosi travel cancellations, with one citing “hidden costs” involved in preparing jets for flights that never took place. In another series of messages, the Pelosi-appointed director of the House’s Office of Interparliamentary Affairs, Kay King, expresses frustration that a particular type of jet won’t be available for members of Congress to use for official trips. “It is my understanding there are NO G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable,” she wrote in one message obtained by Judicial Watch via a Freedom of Information Act Request. “The Speaker will want to know where the planes are . . .” The comment came in reference to planes available for bipartisan trips by congressional delegations — not the speaker’s personal travel. The speaker’s office points out that, after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration put in place a new policy to have the Speaker of the House (who is third in line for the presidency, behind the president and the vice president) travel on a military plane whenever available, even on routine trips to and from his or her congressional district. Pelosi’s predecessor as speaker, Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., also used a military plane for routine travel. The only difference: The House Sergeant-at-Arms determined that Pelosi, D-Calif., would sometimes require a larger aircraft to travel back-and-forth between Washington and her San Francisco congressional district, to ensure non-stop flights. “The availability and size of the military aircraft is determined by the Department of Defense. Typically, when Speaker Pelosi uses military aircraft to travel between her Congressional District and Washington, the military assigns the same 12-seat aircraft used by her predecessor, Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois,” Pelosi’s office said in a written statement. Republicans have been leveling similar charges of aircraft extravagance at the speaker since she took over her post in January 2007. FactCheck.org examined the claims earlier this year, and sided with the speaker’s office. “She does not routinely fly about in a 757-size jet that she demanded from the Air Force. She normally flies on the same type of executive jet as her Republican predecessor,” the group found. “Pelosi has used the Air Force equivalent of a Boeing 757 to fly between Washington, D.C., and her San Francisco district. But she has done so exactly once, when no smaller aircraft was available, according to Air Force spokesman Eric Sharman.” Nonetheless, the e-mails are likely to give fresh ammunition to Republicans who have sought to paint a portrait of Pelosi and her Democratic allies as out-of-touch. Said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton: “Taken together, these documents show that Speaker Pelosi treats the Air Force like her personal airline.”
UPDATE: Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell was asked about the story at today’s briefing: “I really have nothing for you on it. . . . I mean, we provide air travel to a number of people. We provide aircraft for a number of government officials. That’s how we’ve done things for years; it’s how we continue to do things. I know of no one rendering a judgment on whether there is excessive use of those aircraft.”
Asked whether lawmakers should be more sensitive about arranging these flights given the budget crunch, Morrell said, “I have no reason to assume that they aren’t very conscientious about it and they don’t factor all those things into their decision-making.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
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Pelosi is nuts. Did anyone cringe watching Obama’s speech as she kept jumping up clapping. Oh brother.
Posted by: Huh | March 11, 2009, 11:13 am 11:13 am
Pelosi wants to be head cheerleader.
Posted by: Sluggo | March 11, 2009, 11:18 am 11:18 am
GIve me a B..give me an I..give me a T
Well you know the rest
Posted by: Obama-cabinet of corruption | March 11, 2009, 11:52 am 11:52 am
Pelosi is a wealthy woman. She and every other elected official should should fly commercial when they are simply going home.
Posted by: Ron | March 11, 2009, 11:53 am 11:53 am
pelosi is a self-center, self-rightous, clueless hypocrite.
Lets just hope our great country can recovered from her stupidity……
Posted by: ReallyMeanIt | March 11, 2009, 12:53 pm 12:53 pm
Pelosi is a train wreck. I cant beleive she’s also a heartbeat away from the presidency (god help us if that ever happened).
Posted by: D | March 11, 2009, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
“Pelosi is nuts. Did anyone cringe watching Obama’s speech as she kept jumping up clapping. Oh brother.”
YES, I THINK EVERYBODY SAW THIS. SHE WAS LIKE A PERFORMING SEAL. JUST AWFUL.
Posted by: D | March 11, 2009, 1:01 pm 1:01 pm
You guys seems to pick and chose the information one wants, because I’ve just read the same articule and it states: “Pelosi’s predecessor as speaker, Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., also used a military plane for routine travel”….then….”The availability and size of the military aircraft is determined by the Department of Defense.”… Here’s more:”FactCheck.org examined the claims earlier this year, and sided with the speaker’s office.”….And this:”She does not routinely fly about in a 757-size jet that she demanded from the Air Force. She normally flies on the same type of executive jet as her Republican predecessor”…..
Now can someone tell me where is the issue exactly…???…Please find where she’s doing something SSSSSOOOOO out of touch that it needs such attention
Posted by: Invisible1028 | March 11, 2009, 1:12 pm 1:12 pm
Pelosi has company. . . . .It seems that no expense is too great for Joe Biden to ride in style either! As you may know, Biden was determined to make sure everyone in America knew that he rode an Amtrak train home to Delaware every night, spending hundreds of dollars of taxpayer money each week, rather than pony up for a nice apartment in Washington. Now it seems that “Joe the VP” wants to continue his wasteful ways by demanding his own 12-car train, provided by that fiscal black hole called Amtrak. As if it weren’t enough of a waste of our tax money! Why exactly does he feel he needs his own train?. . . . . . .*one car will be outfitted with a secure communications network, although current rules prohibit non-military vehicles access to executive-level communications.
. . . . . . . .*another car will be built as a portable office, even though the trip takes “about two hours.” Joe Biden specifically requested such luxuries as real wood paneling on all the walls, an antique desk imported from Imperial Germany (didn’t we fight a war against them?), and a complete furniture set costing over 30,000 dollars!. . . . . . .*one car will be designed as Joe’s personal restroom. It will have a working toilet and bath, and will simply dump whatever needs to be dumped on the way home (Congress has already passed legislation exempting Joe’s train from “environmental concerns.” Not only does this show you exactly how Democrats feel about the rules they wrote and expect you to follow, but it also shows us what to expect when all three branches of the government are under their control). . . . . .The worst part of this tragedy is that Joe Biden will be living in the Vice-Presidential manor during his tenure in office! The train is only for the few times a year that he’ll need it! Good ole Joe expects us to foot a $56 MILLION dollar per year vacation train!
Posted by: Spread That Wealth | March 11, 2009, 1:50 pm 1:50 pm
Factcheck.org sided with Pelosi…LMAO! Big surprise…left leaning organization that they are. How in the world does she continue to get re-elected? Families in her district got 413.00 a week under the stimulous yet Pelosi made sure that 33 million was granted to study some endangered mouse…families = $13.00…a mouse gets 33 mil…you voters think about that the next time you throw the lever for her.
Posted by: MBNA Joe | March 11, 2009, 1:51 pm 1:51 pm
Why is a sin when the heads of the auto companies fly jets that are paid for by their companys’ profits, approved by directors elected by the owners (stockholders) but alright for Pelosi to dip into our (taxpayer’s) pockets for her Imperial speakership? Phew ! Another Royal family member (her father was in Congress, too) just like the Bushes, Kennedys, and Gores, among others. Off with their heads !
Posted by: Tom Beebe | March 11, 2009, 1:52 pm 1:52 pm
Pelosi is “special,” so she should just take the short bus home like all the other “special” people…
Posted by: Namako OH3 | March 11, 2009, 1:53 pm 1:53 pm
i’m confused. why is this being reported? one side says one thing. their facts are wrong. we know that, but we still report the allegation? is this a public service?
Posted by: tom | March 11, 2009, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm
how does THAT WOMAN keep getting elected .she is worse than obuma could ever be
Posted by: david reyes | March 11, 2009, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm
I believe very much in our new president and his administration, he, they have more (huge)issues,problems, conditions etc. to manage than any other new Presidency/Administration has had to deal with in modern history. Not only is the scope larger than the per verbal 800 pound gorilla, independently any one of these “problems” could derail our country for years, accumulate a few together & we could be sitting in the middle of the Great Depression II.
Given that the shear size and nature of these problems tend to feed each other and are self effacing to the point that they evolve at an exponential speed, our new administration is up to managing these tasks, and the administration is correct in addressing multipul fronts concurrently, because of the aforementioned evoloution and spped these issues are moving.
That said, I also believe that our new president is missing an opportunity with singing the operating budget just forwarded by Congress. There ARE earmarks within this budget that should be “returned to sender” postage due. Granted, one mans “pork” is another mans “stimulus” these “earmarks” by and large do not pass the smell test with respect to carrying any multiplier effect within the economy.
Also granted, most of this budget IS for true operational requirements that pay for the day to day operations of our government, even 8000 “earmarks” combined that will represent 2%-4% of the total spending is a large number.
And really more to the point, this is a great opportunity for Mr. Obama to walk the talk, support your campaign promise of reviewing this budget line by line, eliminate programs that do not function, reset spending to fully support those that do and eliminate the “earmarks” that do not pass the same level of scrutiny the “Stimulus Bill – Recovery Act” underwent.
We”eve got your back Mr. President, please take a little time with this budget, singe an emergency spending stop gap to keep the government functioning, return the budget to Congress with the directive to scrub it, reinstate the line item veto via Executive order and you will walk the talk with increasing your political capitol exponentially while doing what our country desperately needs.
Posted by: Darryl the Contractor | March 11, 2009, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
Pelosi is an idiot. I hate watching anyone speaking and watching her in the background with her fake smile. Does anyone like this witch?
Posted by: CW | March 11, 2009, 4:45 pm 4:45 pm
Why should taxpayers pay for Pelosi to fly in a private jet? Auto executives were
chastised for doing so. Why isn’t she flying commercial?
Posted by: CW | March 11, 2009, 4:53 pm 4:53 pm
If it was good for Hastert and his
GOP predecessors, why is there any
stink? Might this be a attack against the Democrats but more of than, a blatant gender-based attack. “Madame
Speaker” still seems hard for GOPers to
swallow. The British had Prime Minister
Thatcher and Israel, Golda Meier with no problems. The US GOP is really
desparate and biased.
Posted by: Alan Kardoff | March 11, 2009, 5:38 pm 5:38 pm
Why can’t these arrogant “public servants” fly on regularly scheduled commercial flights?
This is exactly what the problem is with our Washington pols. Their sense of “entitlement” takes over their common sense. President Obama should put a stop to the unnecessary use of military planes to fly pols around the country and overseas.
“Change” is just a word, real CHANGE would require doing things differently in Washington.
And so it goes…….
Posted by: kahuna606 | March 11, 2009, 5:41 pm 5:41 pm
Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois used to fly back and forth to Illinois due to his age and family on a regular basis. Geoff Morrell stated the Pentagon has been providing aircrafts for government official for many, many years…”that’s how it’s always been. Pelosi is the Speaker of the House! Third in command of the U.S. I wouldn’t want her flying commercial for any reason. Sounds like the republicans are crying again with petty arguments.
Posted by: sngeorgia | March 11, 2009, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm
I think letting the politicians use the military as their personal airline is a waste. If they want a “stimulus” for business they should be forced to fly American based airlines (only coach class – to join us common folks) and give real government money to airlines for travel. Pelosi has no reason for free military travel, and President Obama it is time for a change.
Posted by: Jeff G | March 11, 2009, 7:37 pm 7:37 pm
What is wrong with the people of San Francisco, electing people like Pelosi and Newsom. Lets hope they grow a brain before Newsom is elected governor.
Posted by: Loony in S.F | March 11, 2009, 9:17 pm 9:17 pm
CW: “Why isn’t she flying commercial?”
Uh, because she’s second in succession to become President of the United States?
I gather reading comprehension is not your strong point.
Posted by: James | March 12, 2009, 12:23 am 12:23 am
Pelosi makes Hillary look good.
Posted by: windbeaker | March 12, 2009, 3:28 am 3:28 am
Limousine liberal? Nope – Leer Jet liberal.
Posted by: Larry | March 12, 2009, 10:14 am 10:14 am
Seems people in here only READ what they want to read! It was said at the very beginning of this article that then President Bush, just after 9/11 started this practice with Speaker Hasert, then it was carried on to Speaker Polosi. It was NOT meant for ALL OF CONGRESS to have a Military Plane at their beck and call, to travel all over the country or world, with their entire families! In an article yesterday, MS Polosi demanded a Military Plane that would seat 47 people, WHY would she need such a Plane? That same article said that she had taken her spouse into a Combat Zone (Iraq), against all Rules and Regulations about having Spouses with you on a Military Aircraft! I don’t ever remember all of the House having FREE RIDES on Military Air Planes! Only the House Speaker has this perk, not the entire house with it’s over 400+ members!!! We have not been attacked on our own soil in more then 8 years now, why continue this practice? Mr Obama is making all new friends in Iran, China, Syria (sp) and Palestine, only God knows what other Terrorist country he is trying to befriend now?! We should not have any fear at all of an attack, not with all the Terrorist becoming our friends! All these Politicians should be Flying Coach, with us Low Life’s, Pee-ons, (Unemployed) Blue Collar Worker’s and LOW INCOME, isn’t that anyone NOT making at least $3 Million Dollar’s a year? Personally I am waiting for MY Stimulus Check and hope it has 8 or 9 digits on it, without the decimal point! :}~ Just MHO!!!
Posted by: C6Ron | March 12, 2009, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm