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Now for comparison. Someone see if you can find the thread that totaled up Dubya's flight to the carrier. It turned out that it actually saved money because he flew on the jet. I want both these articles to hard-copy and send to mr. KKK.

Excerpt:

Fuss Over a Flight

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, asked Congress' investigative arm to prepare a full accounting of the trip, given Fleischer's new explanation for the jet ride.

But Fleischer said the cost of making the journey in a helicopter would have been virtually identical to what it cost for the jet ride. He said both aircraft cost about $7,000 an hour to operate.

Fleischer rejected Byrd's criticism, saying: "More than 100 Americans paid the ultimate price to defend our country, and the president is proud to have visited the Abraham Lincoln to say 'thank you' in person. Our servicemen and women deserve no less."

Excerpt

Administration defends Bush's jet flight to aircraft carrier

But this official also said that in the end, the cost of the jet might actually be lower because it made the trip in less time than a helicopter would have. Navy officials said the costs were roughly equal -- about $5,000 an hour.

The Navy also said there would be S-3 training flights regardless of whether the president was coming aboard, suggesting there were no additional costs related to the president's trip.

during 1998 President Clinton spent $72.1 million of the taxpayers' money to bring 2,401 people with him to eight countries

Now for comparison. Someone see if you can find the thread that totaled up Dubya's flight to the carrier

LOOK at the DEMS!!

Democrats on the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee said costs could top $1 million!!!

washingtonpost.com

Democrats Question Cost of Bush's Sea Landing Reuters Wednesday, May 7, 2003; 6:47 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in Congress on Wednesday demanded to know the costs of President Bush's jet landing on an aircraft carrier last week that they branded a costly political stunt.

The Bush administration disclosed on Tuesday that Bush insisted on landing on the USS Lincoln in a S-3B Viking jet even though the carrier was within helicopter range because he wanted to share the pilots' experience. The ship was returning from the Gulf region after the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Democrats on the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee said costs could top $1 million. They included delaying the USS Lincoln that was steaming from the Gulf to San Diego, California, an extra day of air patrols, keeping the crew at sea, presidential security and flying Bush to the ship.

The Democrats issued a news release headed 'shameless' in large red type that cited the 'nerve required to delay the return of 4,000 sailors to their families after 10 months at sea in order to stage (a) photo-op.'

Bush, wearing a flight suit, made a jet landing and posed with crew members to mark the end of major combat in Iraq. The landing was widely televised and received extensive media coverage throughout the day.

Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the House Government Reform Committee's top Democrat, called for the General Accounting Office to examine the costs.

A Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed that Bush's visit added significant costs, and said it did not delay the carrier's return to its home port in Washington state.

'The operating cost of an aircraft carrier is about a million dollars a day. But it got to where it was supposed to be on time,' he said.

The White House said the Lincoln had made faster progress than expected and was 30 miles offshore for the presidential visit.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer rejected charges that the jet landing was political theater.

'I think that the 5,000 sailors on that ship recognized this for what it was, the president going out there to say thank you to those who risked their lives,' Fleischer said.

On Tuesday, he said Bush wanted to land by jet to 'allow him to see an aircraft landing the same way that the pilots saw an aircraft landing.

Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the Senate's senior Democrat, said: 'I am loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan.'