Posted on 10/20/2017 12:38:59 PM PDT by EdnaMode
A group of House Democrats on Thursday urged Vice President Pence to reimburse taxpayers the cost of his travel this month to Indianapolis for an NFL game he abruptly left after players kneeled during the national anthem.
In a letter to Pence, five House Democrats demanded the vice president pay back the expenses of attending the game, where the Indianapolis Colts faced off against the San Francisco 49ers.
A CNN report estimated that Pence’s travel to and from Indiana cost taxpayers about $242,500, which doesn’t include the cost of Secret Service or advance staff. The Democratic lawmakers asked that Pence make clear exactly how much public funds were spent on the trip.
“Flying across the country and back at taxpayer expense simply to enter and then immediately depart a football stadium serves no discernible public interest,” Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Brendan Boyle (Pa.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.) wrote.
“Instead, the fact that your campaign immediately sought to capitalize on this exercise in order to solicit donations leaves the distinct impression that this trip was purely political in nature and was unrelated to your official duties."
Pence’s office said that he had been planning to attend the Colts game for weeks. But Pence walked out of the game after athletes knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequity in the U.S.
"President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem,” he said in a statement.
President Trump tweeted that Pence left the game at his suggestion, saying that “I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country.”
Trump’s Make America Great Again Committee sought to raise money off of Pence’s walkout the next day, adding fuel to criticism that the move was pre-orchestrated to stoke cultural tensions over the NFL protests.
Trump sparked debate over the act of players kneeling during the national anthem during a campaign rally in Alabama last month, at which he called on NFL leaders to fire athletes engaging in the protests.
Many players have joined in the protests since then to show solidarity with NFL free agent Colin Kaepernick, who as a member of the San Francisco 49ers drew attention for kneeling during the anthem last year to highlight the issue of police brutality toward African-Americans.
As soon as Obama pays back those six trips to Martha’s Vineyard.
If I remember right, Biden went somewhere in Europe and spent a fortune of taxpayer money on hotel rooms.
Screw RATS. Those bastards ripped America off for 8 years!
Yeah that’s a good point. The NFL should definitely pay for everything.
If I were in the VPs position, I would ignore them and just walk into the Senate next time eating a banana.
“The Hill” is all Dem playbook all the time.
Politico at least does the occasional informative story.
Where were these little POSs when the Wookie took a separate plane to the same destination as Obama because she didn’t want to wait an hour for him. Or when the Obama little -itches took a holiday to the Caribbean when the government was shut down and other school children couldn’t visit the WH or national monuments. These people are just braying jackasses. Sorry jackasses, didn’t mean to insult you.
Why?
It was the most publicized and political statement that our VP has done while in office.
He asserted that the Federal govt believes in the importance of a unified nation.
It was money....WELL SPENT.
LOL, great point.
I’m gonna bet that since...Hamilton is seeing a big decline in attendance.
When you piss off about half your audience, don’t expect a full house...
DC and Indiana are both in Eastern time zone.
President Barack Obama’s vacation travel costs during his eight-year presidency have totaled more than $96 million, according to a report by Judicial Watch.
The government watchdog foundation said it filed two separate Freedom of Information Act lawsuits for Secret Service costs related to the Obama family’s travel.
The costs totaled $96,938,882.51 over the past eight years, according to documents Judicial Watch received from the Secret Service and the U.S. Air Force.
Do these Democrats know that Pence actually went to the game? How long he stayed is none of their business. CASE closed.
Democratic Reps. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Brendan Boyle (Pa.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.) should resign in shame and volunteer to pay the court costs for their frivolous complaint.
Which one? bah-dah-boom...
Except for the NW and SW corners of Indiana that are in Central. Indianapolis is Eastern.
...as soon as we get our Uranium back.
—�—�—
Chortle out loud!
Perhaps.
But, I can still recall Newt Gingrich being forced to return a book advance because of "ethical concerns", while the Hildebeest pocketed millions.
That's just one of many examples of the swamp's double-standard.
Let us compare the Trump/Pence travel expenses for year 1, against the lowest year of the Obama/Biden travel expenses.
And I’m sorry, but I seem to recall Trump is not accepting a Presidential salary.
That’s right Trump, he’s serving out of a sense of duty.
Thanks be to God!
Democrats demand Republican apologize for breaking wind 6 years ago.
Democrats don’t like way Republican is looking at them, demand apology and resignation.
They can bill Roger Goodell.
Zero should be billed for the lost business of every single bar and restaurant for one night in Georgetown. He went there for a burger and shut down the entire place. Three hours during prime dinner hours killed them for the night.
$242,500. That’s not even the food & beverage bill for Zero and his entourage on one of his vacations.
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