Senators and Congressmen travel on fact-finding missions...”
This is one of the issues that has always really irked me. I worked for a large corporation where I had to travel from Monday to Friday and now own a small business so know quite well the costs associated with business travel. Most facts can be found by means other than traveling to the site given today’s technological advances. It is just another way for Senators and Congressmen to travel on my dime and game the system. I don’t even want to think about how much money BO and the first family waste on their constant traveling.
“Leadership conferences” and various other types of “conferences” are a perquisite of the upper echelons of the Nomenklatura. As an example the US justice department spent $121m on more than 1,800 conferences in 2008 and 2009. It spent $600,000 just on planning for five conferences. Multiply that by hundreds of other departments and agencies. There is no problem with this spending because it is not their money. Besides it stimulates the economy. I am sure an economics expert like Nancy Pelosi could determine that $1.00 in “conference” expenditures generates $1.86 in economic activity. These “conferences” accomplish nothing. They are just an excuse to party. When light shines on these activities the roaches head for the cracks in the wall. It will not last. As Jeff Neely, GSA Regional Commissioner, pointed out, “why not enjoy it while we have it and while we can. Ain’t gonna last forever.”