Health and Human Services? Priceless

U.S. health secretary Tom Price has been flying on the country's dime. He now agrees to pay back $51.887.31 for part of the accrued costs for private charter flights he has taken on government business and now has promised to fly commercial--"no exceptions."

Too little and too late.

The price of the almost $52K only covers the cost of Price's pricey seat but the overcall price may be north of a million simoleons. The case is currently under investigation and Democrats are livid and are acting morally superior over the issue because they don't have good ideas, only personal attacks.

President Trump publicly rebuked Price, and appeared to have been on the cusp of uttering his famous line from his hit TV show "The Apprentice," but he didn't and appears to have allowed Price to bow out gracefully with his resignation, which was tendered Friday morning.

A portion of the
booze bill

"I regret the concerns this has raised [meaning: I regret having been caught and now my screw up is being made public] regarding the use of taxpayer dollars," Price said in a statement. "I was not sensitive enough [meaning: I didn't give a fiddler's flatulence] for the taxpayer." His apology came a day after President Trump's attack on his behavior.

Price admitted Trump spoke with him about his displeasure over screwing the taxpayer, but he didn't put it that way.

But it isn't as if Price is the first politician to fly privately and bilk the taxpayer. 

Trips by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt have also come under fire, particularly by hypocrites on the left who forgot about Nancy Pelosi's booze and food parties where taxpayers footed the booze bill that came to about $101,000 over a two year period, or about $1,000 a week when she was House Speaker.

Pelosi provided her guests with top shelf booze such as Maker's Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac Bombay Sapphire gin and so on . . . hic. That was part of what was called "in-flight services" for her trips on Air Force jets paid for by us.

We have conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch to thank when they obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2010. It proved Pelosi incurred expenses of about $2.1 million for her use of USAF aircraft for travel.

"Speaker Pelosi has a history of wasting taxpayer funds with her boorish demands for military travel," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said at the time. "And these documents suggest the Speaker's congressional delegations are more about partying than anything else."

Nancy Pelosi, however, paid nothing back and was never investigated.

But that isn't the whole story about the misuse of taxpayer money. Obama officials are also involved in taking pricey trips, including personal trips.

Then attorney generals Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, then-FBI director Robert Mueller and then-CIA director and defense secretary Leon "The Schnoz" Panetta were also guilty of the same personal use and abuse of taxpayer money.

The FBI convinced Congress at the time that two high-tech luxury jets were needed for the fight agains global terrorism [and better leg room]. As it turned out, global terrorism grew and the jets were used to haul Holder's and Mueller's butts around and Holder's predecessors.

The other officials beside Mueller and Holder were former Attorneys General Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales. Between 2007 and 2011, the dynamic duo racked up almost 700 "nonmission" flights at a cost of only $11,400,000, according to the Government Accountability Office. 

Why nothing was reported at the time shows the Accountability Office should also be held accountable.

Those officials are required to use government aircraft, and in some cases, reimburse the government for part of the expenses. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said at the cost incurred, Mukasey and Gonzales should have either cut back their miles or not use the expensive Gulfstream V jets.

"These luxury jets were supposedly needed for counterterrorism, but it turns out they were used almost two-thirds of the time for jet-setting executive travel," Grassley said.

The cost for the attorneys general travel was $5.8 million; the FBI director's was nearly as much. About 70 percent of the AG flights were for business and 28 percent for personal reasons. That leaves 2 percent, possibly for dive-bombing ISIS.

The point is, people in power tend to flaunt their power and don't see a problem with pissing away taxpayer money because it isn't theirs. This isn't only about Tom Price--it's a government thing--we wouldn't understand.


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