Tuesday, September 2, 2014

September, 2014 Political Class Insanity, Part 2: A High Flying, Taxpayer Billing Rockefeller and More Non-Transparency Within the Obama Administration

The start of a new month means it is time to check in on the latest political class insanity from the American political class. Every month since this blog began in 2009, we have conducted monthly reviews of stupid government programs, inane political comments, wasteful government spending, and other burdens and insanity that the politicians in this country constantly rain down on us and our families.

Unfortunately, what used to take a day to cover has now morphed into multiple posts every month just to keep up with the ineptness and craziness of today’s politicians. This month will be no different. If anything, the insanity seems to be increasing and intensifying as we continue to sense that we are being served by the worst set of politicians in the history of this country.

Our first insanity post was yesterday and can be accessed at:


Today’s post continues to prove our theory that we are being served by the worst set of politicians…ever:

1) Luke Rosiak of Washington Examiner recently did an article on the travel exploits of West Virginia Senator, Jay Rockefeller. As most of you probably know, the Rockefeller dynasty is a very, very, very rich dynasty and is based on the oil industry. No Rockefeller ever had to pinch pennies or go hungry.

This Rockefeller owns an $18 million mansion in Washington D.C., which sits on 16 acres of land. When he purchased it in 1986 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that it had 11 bathrooms just on one floor of the mansion. It is estimated that Rockefeller is worth about $100 million.

But all this has not stopped this Washington politician from squeezing all he can out of American taxpayers on his trips to and from D.C. and the nearby state he represents, West Virginia:
  • Apparently the Senator rarely visits his home state of West Virginia (and why should he, given his mansion in D.C.).
  • However, when he does visit the state, he almost always takes a private plane and bills it to the American taxpayer, despite the fact that the state border is a mere 60 miles form D.C., a very drivable distance.
  • Each trip usually costs the American taxpayer about $4,400 even though a commercial flight to the state can be had for as little as $206, less than 5% the cost of a private plan ride.
  • Over the past three years, only eleven Senators have billed more travel costs than Rockefeller but they represent such far flung states as Alaska, Montana, and others.
  • From another perspective, although Rockefeller only went back to West Virginia eleven times last year, less often than just about every other member of Congress, his travel costs were among the highest.
  • His 32 trips back to the state in the past three years cost taxpayers $141,408 for the chartered aircraft. 
  • Conversely, 40 members of his staff traveled back and forth regularly for less than half that price, combined. 
  • For a single two day trip from February 28 to March 1 of this year, "airfare for Sen. Rockefeller Washington DC to Charleston and return" cost taxpayers $9,657.
We could go on and on with other instances of disgraceful spending from this Washington politician but you get the idea. These people are almost wealthy beyond most Americans' dreams but still rig the system so that their lives are easier and more profitable than they should be. This is just another example where two steps from “Love my Country, Loathe My Govenrment” are needed to clean up Washington:
  1. Step 39 would impose term limits on all politicians. Given that these people get reelected over and over, there is no urgency to get anything done except to take care of themselves. That is why long term Senators like Rockefeller rarely go back to their home states, they are safely ensconced in their plush Washington lives. Give them a limited amount of time in office and maybe they would actually start caring about those they have the honor or representing.
  2. Step 41 would prohibit any member of Congress from drawing a Congressional salary if their net worth was over $3 million. At a net worth of $100 million. Rockefeller would certainly be affected by this step. He is so very rich that a Congressional annual salary of under $200,000 is mere incidental change in his portfolio. Let him forego a salary and symbolically help the country’s crushing debt problem. Lord knows he is already sticking the taxpayer for his travel expense.
2) In a damning and unprecedented letter that was recently made public, the majority of sitting Federal Inspector Generals (IGs) made the very serious claim that the Obama administration was deliberately obstructing their investigations into government mismanagement and corruption. 

This accusation is being made even though the President campaigned on the promise of having the most transparent administration in the history of the country. Tough to say he accomplished that goal when the Federal government watchdogs are saying they cannot do their jobs in rooting out waste and corruption.

A recent piece by the Heritage Foundation was astute enough to point out that one of the signees of the letters was the Justice Department’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz. This is critical since it is the duty of senior administration officials like Attorney General Eric Holder to advise subordinate officials that they are obligated to cooperate with the Inspector Generals of their agencies.

The August 5, 2014 letter contained the signatures of 47 of the Federal government’s 73 Inspectors General, many of whom were appointed by Obama. The letter was sent to senior Congressional members in Congress and basically asked for, pleaded for, help so that they could do their jobs to clean up government inefficiencies, criminal fraud, and corruption.

In the letter, they cited examples of being stonewalled across the administration:
  • They complained about the “serious limitations on access to records that have recently impeded the work” of Inspector Generals at the Peace Corps, the EPA, and the Department of Justice. 
  • Obama Administration lawyers have manipulated laws related to privilege in “a manner that would override the express authorization contained in the IG Act.” 
  • These actions hade in turn seriously impeded the “ability [of the IGs] to conduct our work thoroughly, independently, and in a timely manner.”
  • According to the letter, the Justice Department withheld “essential records” in three different reviews. 
  • As the IGs point out, Section 6 of the IG Act gives IGs access to “to all records, reports, audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, or other material available” to the agency involved. Since this is not happening, not only is the Obama administration less than transparent, it is also breaking the law.
This is disgraceful, illegal, nontransparent, and certainly disrespectful to American taxpayers and citizens who have every right to know what is going on within their government. The Heritage piece summarizes this disgrace better than I could:

“The only thing more dangerous than an administration that abuses its power is an administration that tries to hide what it is doing from taxpayers, voters, and our elected representatives in Congress.”

That will do it for today. Only two examples of political class isnanity but powerful instances of two different types of corruption. We have shown a vivid example of personal, selfish corruption, the needless overbilling of American taxpayers for the convenience of one of the richest members of Congress. And we showed illegal, law breaking corruption, covering up misdoings within a Presidential administration that promised transparency but delivered nothing but secretive operations and dealings.

More insanity, corruption, and non-transparency tomorrow.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w






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