Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pelosi: I'll Fly Commercial If I Have To
CBS News ^ | 02/07/07

Posted on 02/08/2007 10:58:40 AM PST by presidio9

Addressing a swarm of reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to the controversy over her desire to fly in an Air Force transport plane by saying that she would have no problem flying commercially if a secure military plane is not offered.

"I have told them that I will travel cross-country, non-stop commercially as I have done and always done probably — how many times — a thousand times since I've been in Congress, so this will be nothing new to me," Pelosi said.

The White House defended the Democratic leader of the House against Republican criticism that her desire to fly in an Air Force transport plane is an extravagance.

"This is a silly story and I think it's been unfair to the speaker," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Defense Department agreed to provide the House speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips back home.

Republicans are taking issue with the size of the plane Pelosi would need to fly in to reach her hometown across the country in California without refueling. There are three Air Force airplanes that have the fuel capacity to make the trip nonstop, with the largest being a C-32 plane, a military version of the Boeing 757-200.

In an interview with Fox News television Thursday, Pelosi speculated that Department of Defense officials were distorting the story as retribution for her stance against the war and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

"There are probably those in the Department of Defense who are not happy with my criticism of Secretary Rumsfeld, the war in Iraq, other waste, fraud and abuse in the Defense Department, and I guess this is their way of making their voices heard," she said.

The Pentagon this week informed Pelosi's staff that she would be provided with a plane but that its size would be based on availability and that it could not guarantee nonstop service.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican from the Midwest, flew in a small commuter-sized Air Force jet.

Pelosi said she would be happy to fly on commercial airliners but said the House sergeant-at-arms office urged her to continue Hastert's practice of using Air Force transport. She said she was informed on her first trip home that her plane would not make it across the country.

"I said well, that's fine, I'm going commercial," she told Fox News. "I'm not asking to go on that plane. If you need to take me there for security purposes, you're going to have to get a plane that goes across the country, because I'm going home to my family" in San Francisco.

Rep. Adam Putnam, the No. 3 Republican leader, called Pelosi's desire for a large transport plane "an extravagance of power that the taxpayers won't swallow."

"It's important we see what the specific request was," Putnam said.

But Snow on Thursday said the negotiations over Pelosi's transport have been conducted solely by the House sergeant-at-arms and the Pentagon, with no direct involvement by the speaker or her office — or the White House.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fakebutaccurate
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-129 next last
To: presidio9
Speaker Pelosi, refused passage for her own personal U.S. Air Force jet, meets her tragic end in a freak flying accident.


21 posted on 02/08/2007 11:06:06 AM PST by GunnyHartman (The DNC, misunderestimating Dubya's strategery since 2000.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

"I have told them that I will travel cross-country, non-stop commercially as I have done and always done probably — how many times — a thousand times since I've been in Congress, so this will be nothing new to me,"

Aww, geez... you guys happy now?  Ya bunch of Conservative nit wits, bashing granny Pelosi?  See what you went and did?  Who'd a thought it'd come to this, now she's gonna fly commercial, with the proletariat, getting their musty odors all over her haute couture finery.

Owl_Eagle

If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.


22 posted on 02/08/2007 11:06:09 AM PST by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

Nancy, Leonardo, Charles... it seems flying commercial is the modern day equivalent to crucifixion.

Bless every one of these brave, selfless souls.


23 posted on 02/08/2007 11:06:15 AM PST by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard ("and alllll the children are insane")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

Did you see the video where Nancy complains that the Pent didn't give her a plane because she was a WOMAN??

Yikes, she is really desperate!


24 posted on 02/08/2007 11:06:35 AM PST by roses of sharon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

I'm curious as to why it needs to be a non-stop flight.


25 posted on 02/08/2007 11:06:58 AM PST by Kirkwood
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rakkasan1; queenkathy

Hat tipping Rakkasan1 for the idea :)


26 posted on 02/08/2007 11:07:30 AM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Spok

"Pelosi: I'll Fly Commercial If I Have To"

Pelosi to flight attendant: :"Dammit!! Don't you KNOW who I am???!!!!"


27 posted on 02/08/2007 11:08:33 AM PST by tcrlaf (VOTE DEM! You'll Look GREAT In A Burqa!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Pelosi: I'll Fly Commercial If I Have To

Please!

She has not flown commercial in 25 years!

28 posted on 02/08/2007 11:08:35 AM PST by SomeoneNeedsToSayIt (Socialism: If we ALL can’t be wealthy… we ALL will be poor…)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

Oh good! The shewolf now has Tony defending her. In the meanwhile, she's trashing Rumsfeld, Defense and the military. Just pathetic.


29 posted on 02/08/2007 11:08:48 AM PST by Jrabbit ('scuse me??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Pelosi: I'll Fly Commercial If I Have To

If only our troops were so brave. /s

30 posted on 02/08/2007 11:09:22 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Owl_Eagle

"I have told them that I will travel cross-country, non-stop commercially as I have done and always done probably — how many times — a thousand times since I've been in Congress, so this will be nothing new to me,"

Then what is murtha making threats about?


31 posted on 02/08/2007 11:09:34 AM PST by jackv (just shakin' my head)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
"I have told them that I will travel cross-country, non-stop commercially as I have done and always done probably — how many times — a thousand times since I've been in Congress, so this will be nothing new to me," Pelosi said.

I pity the TSA flacky that strip-searches her . . .

32 posted on 02/08/2007 11:09:39 AM PST by Petruchio (* Censored *)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

This lady in on a power trip.

Speaker of the House is a very big post and she does have some perks coming to her. But, a jumbo jet bigger than that of her predecessor is just a power trip. She wants to be seen as powerful and that that power commands big perks and one of those perks should be a plane as big or close to that of the president of the U.S. Next, she's going to be insisting that the plane also be equipped with gear such as Air Force One which allows the president to virtually run an airborne White House.


33 posted on 02/08/2007 11:09:39 AM PST by adorno
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #34 Removed by Moderator

To: edpc
Nobody's ever disputed she needed access to a plane. The story is the plane type and size. Too damn bad if she has to refuel on the way to SF.

That's what I thought it was about.

35 posted on 02/08/2007 11:10:30 AM PST by Krodg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
"...and that it could not guarantee nonstop service."

Oh my God! Mean while us peons cannot go to FLA. from Cleveland w/o stopping in Atlanta.

She is talking about flying almost 3000 miles on the tax payer's nickle and has to complain about making a 2 hour fuel stop?

Get a clue!
36 posted on 02/08/2007 11:10:39 AM PST by mr_hammer (Pro-life, Pro-gun, Pro-military, Pro-borders, Limited Govn't will win in 08!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
Queen Pelosi: "I have told them that I will travel cross-country, non-stop commercially as I have done and always done probably"

Then do it and STFU.

37 posted on 02/08/2007 11:10:48 AM PST by MaestroLC ("Let him who wants peace prepare for war."--Vegetius, A.D. Fourth Century)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

The Repubs in the House are making a big deal of this plane request on C-Span today.


38 posted on 02/08/2007 11:11:01 AM PST by moondoggie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kirkwood

so the evil right-wing haters can't sabotage the plane like they did to Wellstone...;)


39 posted on 02/08/2007 11:11:20 AM PST by Rakkasan1 ((Illegal immigrants are just undocumented friends you haven't met yet!))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: All
My two cents ... The accommodations for the Speaker of the House came about as a result of the 9-11 attacks. If the airports of our nation have been made safe since the attacks, there is absolutely no reason to continue with these accommodations. If they are not safe, we'll see the accommodations continue. If the accommodations continue, people had better start asking why.
40 posted on 02/08/2007 11:11:36 AM PST by backtothestreets
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-129 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson