posted on Aug, 4 2012 @ 12:44 PM
I know there are clear lines on who has financial liability for what aspects of a Presidential visit. I was in the military for 24 years and all
money matters within the government are very well spelled out.
I think that in this case there should be some definitive separation between trips that are clearly campaign related as was probably the case here and
those that are combined and those that are not.
The problem often arises when a POTUS combines his campaign events with his official duties. Say when he comes to the city in the morning to make an
official POTUS speech then in the evening attends some 35k a plate diner in the same area.
As the one poster said often when people travel for a living on their company’s dime there are clear rules to prevent the abuse of such combinations
of "official travel" with coincidentally convenient for the traveler events.
For instance in the military one cannot take leave in conjunction with official travel without a normal duty day between to prevent the "appearance"
of impropriety. Say you are sent TDY to Hawaii using government funds for airfare and while you are there (since the tickets were free in effect) you
need some leave so you stay 5 extra days and fly out your wife at your own expense. This is not technically any more cost to the government I mean
you still have to travel there are back to the round trip ticket is paid for and you don't get per diem while on leave so whats the problem? The
problem is that it "appears" to the public that the military is paying for you to take vacation.
This is in effect what the POTUS is doing - he flies in for an official event (legitimate taxpayer expense) then stays for his convenience (a campaign
expense) to raise money in the area. It just looks shady and the office of the POTUS should be above such petty appearances. The line should be
more clear as to what portions of the travel are "offical" and what parts are "political".
# lay out the funds from your war chest of almost a billion dollars and pay the bill. I know integrity is not one of Barry’s strong suits so I
doubt it happens but for me it would go long way to making him seem less like a self aggrandizing ass than usual.
edit on 4/8/2012 by Golf66 because: concoction - conjunction what's your function.... LOL