More taxpayer funded personal travel

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

There's a lot of wasteful spending. Then there's abuse for purely personal reasons which is the corruption this thread was about.

Wasteful spending and going on a cruise tour while on a business trip both take money out of the taxpayers wallet. Isn’t that what the thread is all about? Are you saying that Obama spending 105 million in travel expenses alone was perfectly okay and that they weren’t for purely personal reasons? All Trump is doing is outspending Obama’s by living his usual lifestyle. Is he still giving away his Presidential salary? Heard he gave his last check to the Education Department I believe.

[TexasTiger 12,835]

1 hour ago, aujeff11 said:

Wasteful spending and going on a cruise tour while on a business trip both take money out of the taxpayers wallet. Isn’t that what the thread is all about? Are you saying that Obama spending 105 million in travel expenses alone was perfectly okay and that they weren’t for purely personal reasons? All Trump is doing is outspending Obama’s by living his usual lifestyle. Is he still giving away his Presidential salary? Heard he gave his last check to the Education Department I believe.

No, it was not what it's about. You have a totally separate agenda and you're totally off point. This is not a Trump family travel thread, although those could outline unprecedented behavior that's not on par with any previous first family.

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

No, it was not what it's about

Your OP is essentially nothing more than “the WH is out of control.” And then you attached butthurt to an article of the Chief of the VA mixing business with some leisure.  That is what this “thread is about.” You cannot bitch about wasting taxpayer money during a business trip when it's merely pennies to what the Democrats have wasted.

 

1 hour ago, TexasTiger said:

This is not a Trump family travel thread, although those could outline unprecedented behavior that's not on par with any previous first family.

 Obama’s was unprecedented to any previous first family as well. Keep up.

 

Someone show me the egregious acts of the OP btw. So what, this guy went to the Wimbledon for a business meeting. Or went sightseeing while his business  itenerary was bookended. Is the spouses  travel expenses being paid that big of a deal compared to everything else that we spend? It doesn’t even show that the Govt paid for the leisure activities.

[aujeff11 6,243]

3 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

They are biased on the extreme.

On the extreme? False. 

[AUFAN78 3,894]

21 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

I don't think you really get what "whataboutism" is.  It's not the mere comparison of how one side acted under similar circumstances.  It's when you use "what about ________" to deflect attention away from your guy's wrongdoing.  It's using a charge of hypocrisy to avoid the argument.  I'm not deflecting from anything and I'll jump into this argument with both feet. 

I'm wondering why the same people who had three cows, two pigs and a goat every time Obama spent money on travel they deemed excessive aren't ripping into this administration for doing the same thing.  Just like I wonder why the same people who deemed Bill Clinton unfit for the office because of his womanizing and accusations of sexual assault decided it wasn't that big a deal after all when Trump was up for election.

Nice try bro.

So it was reverse whataboutism. OK. I stand corrected. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

Oh! Look at all this corruption!!

 

 

Donovan Slack, USA TODAY

1 week ago

WASHINGTON — VA Secretary David Shulkin says taxpayers did not foot the bill for his and his wife’s sightseeing and tickets to Wimbledon during a trip to Europe that is now under review by the inspector general at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

David Shulkin, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, sits for an interview with USA TODAY in his office.

Jasper Colt, USA TODAY

He told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview that the July trip was related to VA business, and that while the government paid for their commercial flights and hotels, his wife did not accept taxpayer-funded per diem payments or meals and that they personally paid for nighttime and weekend activities as they would have at home.

“I did not stay in my hotel room, I went out and I enjoyed the local sights with my wife. We paid for all those,” he said. 

The inspector general launched a probe of the trip earlier this month after The Washington Post reported the couple spent nearly half of the 10-day trip sightseeing and that taxpayers had paid for his wife to join him.

 

He said his wife was an official invitee and attended the conference and meetings.

"The government, through our ethics (office), approved a coach travel for her airfare," he said. "That was the only expense that was ever charged." 

Shulkin attended meetings in Denmark from July 12 to 14 and a conference on veterans’ issues in London from July 18 to 20.

During the four days in between, he and his wife toured two palaces, Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral in London, took a Thames River cruise and had dinner in Piccadilly Circus.

"There was no taxpayer dollars associated with it," Shulkin said.

In response to questions about the trip, Shulkin directed that his travel itineraries be posted online, including the European one. They show that unlike other Trump Cabinet secretaries who have come under fire for high-flying travel on the taxpayer dime, Shulkin has not taken charter or private flights.

 

“I flew U.S. commercial jets — I have not taken private jets ever in my life,” he told USA TODAY. “And the only military planes I’ve ever used have been when it has been the president, vice president, or first lady who’ve been on those flights, and I’ve been a passenger with them, so I welcome any type of investigation.”

Shulkin, who previously ran private sector hospitals, said he came to the VA  "as a public service."

"My focus needs to be on fixing the issues for the  VA," he said. "That's where I want my focus, and I'm going to stay away from all of this distraction that Washington tries to make you pay attention to."

Former Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price resigned last month amid withering criticism for racking up roughly $1 million in taxpayer-funded flights on private and military aircraft since taking office in February.

 

Shulkin told USA TODAY that despite recent reports that he may be a candidate to replace Price at HHS, he has not interviewed for the job and is planning to stay at VA.

 

At the same time, Shulkin declined to rule out taking the job at some point if President Trump asked him to do it.

“I work at the pleasure of the president, and I will always do what he asks me to do,” he said. “Right now, he’s asked me to fix VA and that’s what I want to continue to do.”

[SaltyTiger 7,794]

4 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

There's a lot of wasteful spending. Then there's abuse for purely personal reasons which is the corruption this thread was about.

And that is true at all levels of government. 

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

12 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

And that is true at all levels of government. 

Yep

https://www.scribd.com/document/329111385/Clinton-s-State-Department-Waste-and-Mismanagement#fullscreen&from_embed

[TexasTiger 12,835]

24 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

And that is true at all levels of government. 

So you care or don't care?

[SaltyTiger 7,794]

5 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

So you care or don't care?

Did I say that? Know it cost a little to move a President and family. Understood Obama's hits about travel and realized where it was coming from. Trump takes a hit on everything from one side. Simply saying that a lot of things closer to home than WH travel. 

 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

3 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Did I say that? Know it cost a little to move a President and family. Understood Obama's hits about travel and realized where it was coming from. Trump takes a hit on everything from one side. Simply saying that a lot of things closer to home than WH travel. 

 

Off the topic.

[SaltyTiger 7,794]

6 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Off the topic.

No Brother Tex. Not off topic

[TitanTiger 20,472]

2 hours ago, AUFAN78 said:

So it was reverse whataboutism. OK. I stand corrected. 

It’s neither. It’s just you avoiding the question with random finger pointing about nothing. 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

49 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

No Brother Tex. Not off topic

It's not about Presidential travel.

[aujeff11 6,243]

6 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

It's not about Presidential travel.

According to the OP in your thread, it’s about the “out of control WH,” blowing taxpayer money. Pretty sure Presidential travel expenses fall under that umbrella. 

And I’m still looking for an answer to what was so out of control about the VA chief’s trip to Europe. 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

1 hour ago, aujeff11 said:

According to the OP in your thread, it’s about the “out of control WH,” blowing taxpayer money. Pretty sure Presidential travel expenses fall under that umbrella. 

And I’m still looking for an answer to what was so out of control about the VA chief’s trip to Europe. 

My post does assume participants in a political forum actually follow the news. The link is about yet another cabinet member engaging in personal travel at taxpayer expense. It's not an obscure story, but it may not get extensive coverage from your news sources.

Perhaps you only read the title:

"

Trump administration Cabinet members have faced mounting scrutiny over their use of private and government jets in recent days, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resignedFriday amid criticism of his use of taxpayer-funded charter flights. Shulkin traveled on a commercial flight, though, and he was seated in coach on at least one leg.

The European visit, however, puts a focus on the mixing of business and leisure during these trips, which can come at considerable taxpayer expense. Shulkin's immediate predecessor, Robert McDonald, took no foreign work trips, according to a former VA official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Shulkin's six-person traveling party included his acting undersecretary of health and her husband, Shulkin's chief of staff and another aide, the itinerary says. They were accompanied by a security detail of as many as six people.

Shulkin's trip came less than two weeks after he signed a memo instructing top VA staffers to determine whether "employee travel in their organization is essential.""

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 minute ago, TexasTiger said:

The link is about yet another cabinet member engaging in personal travel at taxpayer expense.

The round trip travel to Europe was for business. And it was commercial travel, not private. Nothing about the travel was out of line.it was cleared by the ethics office.

But dig your heels in the sand and tell me how bad this trip really was.

[TexasTiger 12,835]

4 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

The round trip travel to Europe was for business. And it was commercial travel, not private. Nothing about the travel was out of line.it was cleared by the ethics office.

But dig your heels in the sand and tell me how bad this trip really was.

Wonder what essential VA business was covered at Wimbledon, Westminster Abbey and the river cruise? 10 days to discuss veterans health issues must have been pretty thorough. Granted, this was not nearly as egregious as much of the personal use of federal planes by other cabinet members, but if my employee engaged in this much personal stuff and claimed it as all business related I'd fire him. Presidents do take in sights in a public way on such trips, but that's not what this is. But my post assumes one has followed this issue which has been pretty epidemic in this administration.

[aujeff11 6,243]

14 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

The European visit, however, puts a focus on the mixing of business and leisure during these trips, which can come at considerable taxpayer expense.

 There isn’t a damn thing wrong with mixing leisure in with business if it’s on their own dime and if it doesn’t take away from the necessary work. 

 

18 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Shulkin's six-person traveling party included his acting undersecretary of health and her husband, Shulkin's chief of staff and another aide, the itinerary says. They were accompanied by a security detail of as many as six people.

Are you advocating that they lose the security detail? LMAO. 

 

21 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Trump administration Cabinet members have faced mounting scrutiny over their use of private and government jets in recent days

And in this particular trip, the VA chief can withstand scrutiny.

 

22 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resignedFriday amid criticism of his use of taxpayer-funded charter flights.

He’s gone and irrelevant to the trip in question. 

 

 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

2 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

 There isn’t a damn thing wrong with mixing leisure in with business if it’s on their own dime and if it doesn’t take away from the necessary work. 

 

Are you advocating that they lose the security detail? LMAO. 

 

And in this particular trip, the VA chief can withstand scrutiny.

 

He’s gone and irrelevant to the trip in question. 

 

 

Folks fired over abuses aren't irrelevant to this discussion topic and any rational person not afflicted with the "must be disagreeable" gene gets that.

Extend a 3 day business trip to 10 by taking vacation and covering all additional expenses-- perfectly legit. Not what happened here.

[aujeff11 6,243]

8 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Wonder what essential VA business was covered at Wimbledon,

It was on the chief’s own dime. Who cares? 

8 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

10 days to discuss veterans health issues must have been pretty thorough.

Events were canceled causing the trip to be bookended.  Keep crying though, your attempts of outrage are adorable.

 

8 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

But my post assumes one has followed this issue which has been pretty epidemic in this administration.

The President is always considered to be on duty 24-7, even when on vacation. Not so much for VA chief.

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 minute ago, TexasTiger said:

Folks fired over abuses aren't irrelevant to this discussion topic

It’s just as relevant as Presidential traveling expenses. 

 

2 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

Extend a 3 day business trip to 10 by taking vacation and covering all additional expenses-- perfectly legit. Not what happened here.

You’re right. What you just said didn’t happen “here.”

[aujeff11 6,243]

The VA Chief is as transparent about the trip as possible, but yet “Brother Tex” with his tinfoil hat still claims the WH is out of control

 

 

 

[TexasTiger 12,835]

If you have additional facts from other sources than I posted, lead with those and refute or clarify the original article. Then I can respond to that info. Instead you don't get around to that until about page three after arguing irrelevant points. It's your pattern.

[aujeff11 6,243]

5 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

If you have additional facts from other sources than I posted, lead with those and refute or clarify the original article.

I refuted that this trip isn’t evidence that the WH is out of control. Which is “what this thread is about.” If you don’t have the facts, don’t make such preposterous claims and fret over getting called out on it.

And that’s your pattern.