Posted on 05/08/2003 8:56:47 AM PDT by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
March 30, 2000
There he goes again. Our globe-trotting president was flying high this month, traveling to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Oman, and Switzerland. That brings the total out-of-country days for President Clinton, the Traveler-in-Chief, to 212. He's racked up visits to 66 countries -- some more than once -- and 2 territories not recognized as countries. He is, by any measure, the most traveled U.S. president ever.
And just how much is this latest foray estimated to cost the American taxpayer? ABC News, apparently relying on unnamed Pentagon sources, has reported a price tag: a cool $50 million -- the "most expensive overseas trip ever taken by a president," as they put it during the March 23 broadcast of World News Tonight. And because the newscast did not fully identify the costs, it is unclear if this estimate includes only military costs - or even only Air Force costs.
Meanwhile, Air Force Times also pegged the cost at $50 million [3/27/00], implying this figure reflects Air Force costs alone. The article also identifies the numbers and types of aircraft dedicated to the trip: 14 C-17 Globemaster IIIs; 12 C-5 Galaxys, 3 C-141 Starlifters; and 2 C-130 Hercules. In addition, 7 KC-10 Extenders and 39 KC-135 Stratotankers were to deploy. The return mission was to require the same types and numbers of assets with some exceptions, but to include an additional 10 Galaxys and 3 more Stratotankers.
ABC News' John McWethy, while traveling with the President -- who was accompanied by daughter Chelsea and his mother-in-law -- on the recent trip to South Asia, reported that:
"Ninety percent of the costs [cited by the World News Tonight anchor at $50 million] are for airplanes, drawn from an Air Force that is already stressed meeting military and humanitarian commitments overseas. When a President travels, all the public ever sees is Air Force One, but consider this: Seventy-seven other Air Force planes are being used on this one trip, including 26 of the biggest transports, C-5s and C-17s" [Emphasis added].
And just how much of our Air Force's assets does this represent? McWethy continued, "Military sources say that represents more than one-third of the Air Force's entire inventory of these planes that are ready to fly on any given day." As an interesting comparison, the U.S. Air Force has used only about a dozen planes to execute the most recent humanitarian relief effort to Mozambique -- where millions of lives were at stake, according to the same newscast.
The Marines also were called in to support this jaunt, as noted by the Washington Times on March 24:
"The U.S. military sent 10 CH-53 helicopters to India and Pakistan to support President Clinton's ongoing road trip. The large helicopters flew from the Marine Corps base at Kanehoe Bay, Hawaii, to ferry Mr. Clinton, daughter Chelsea and other friends of Bill.
"The helos arrived via giant U.S. Air Force C-5 transport aircraft. In addition, the Marines dispatched about 100 troops for air crews and support."
It is unclear whether ABC's or Air Force Times' estimate included the costs of these helicopters flown in from Hawaii, which - according to the General Accounting Office (GAO), the official auditor for Congress - cost $3,658 per hour to operate.
Pentagon Typically Pays for Large Portion of President's Overseas Trips
Previous investigations into President Clinton's travel record have found that a significant share of the cost of overseas trips comes out of the Pentagon's budget -- which the Clinton/Gore Administration has underfunded year after year. For instance, last year the GAO found that President Clinton's three trips in 1998 to Chile, China, and Africa alone cost a total of $72 million -- of which $60.5 million, or 84 percent, came out of the U.S. defense budget. And these figures include only incremental costs to the government, expressly excluding such ongoing expenses as payroll.
But the price tag is only one factor. Equally important is that these trips also tax our already stressed military assets, consistently deployed on far-flung, non-traditional military missions by this administration. Again, looking back to last year, one newspaper reported the President's travels throughout Africa required the Air Force to cancel or refuse 26 air missions that it would have flown in its regular duties, and postpone 30 others [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 1/10/99]. For the President's most recent excursion, so much of the Air Force's fleet was dedicated to the President's entourage that the Air Mobility Command was forced to send out "regrets" to other officials requesting aircraft [Air Force Times, 3/27/00].
The Air Force reportedly was to dedicate about 460 flying missions to the recent South Asia trip [Air Force Times, 3/27/00]. Compare that to the President's very costly 12-day trip to Africa in 1998 when the military flew 214 missions, as documented by GAO.
Security Costs Are Over and Above Transportation and Logistical Costs
In its extensive review last year, the GAO expressly did not include costs related to assuring the President's security. Secret Service costs, for example, are classified. And, so likely such costs are not included in the estimate recently cited by ABC News and Air Force Times. But, clearly there are additional costs, especially when traveling to such countries as Pakistan. The logistics for the President's arrival in Islamabad, Pakistan alone are mind-boggling. The Washington Post [3/26/00] reported the extraordinary measures taken to ensure the President's safety:
"In Pakistan, the officially marked plane landed first and taxied to the welcoming spot in front of journalists, and, as cameras clicked and whirred, several men in suits got off. The first, a large man with thick gray hair, bore a resemblance to Clinton but was actually a Secret Service agent.
"Suddenly, the unmarked plane approached the airport -- from the opposite direction from which the marked plane had come -- and made a swift, low landing. Before Clinton disembarked, a large black limousine pulled between him and the platform of journalists."
This example is merely illustrative of the security measures required for this one stop on this trip, and is not meant to criticize the need to ensure the President's safety during overseas travels.
It's a Privilege, Not a Perk
No one disputes the need for the President of the United States, as the leader of the free world, to travel overseas. However, Clinton as the most traveled President ever, who is spending extraordinary sums of limited defense dollars in the process, appears to consider these events as one long road trip, rather than an executive privilege. Recall the White House's Joe Lockhart noting to the press corps last fall that Panama was among the few nations Clinton had not visited, but then cavalierly remarked, "There are a few places still left on the list he hasn't been, and we have 15 months to rectify that" [Federal News Service: White House briefing, 10/19/99]. Given his track record, we expect they will.
Tuesday morning started off with a bang for Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe - when he attacked President Bush for serving in the Texas Air National Guard, then found himself on the defensive over the draft record of his friend and political ally Bill Clinton.
The fireworks started when McAuliffe told WABC Radio's Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby that Bush's Iraq war victory announcement from the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln last week gave new legitimacy to questions about Bush's military service.
MCAULIFFE: He's got to stop doing photo ops. All he does is photo ops. You know what happened in April? There were 400,000 people who watched George Bush land live on that aircraft carrier. They wished they'd seen it on the evening news. But you know what? They lost their jobs in the month of April.
SLIWA: Wait a second. No, no. Let's go back to that issue. Are you suggesting that the president should not have been on that aircraft carrier, should not have been meeting the naval personnel that fought so valiantly and should not have been addressing the nation and the world from that aircraft carrier?
MCAULIFFE: I though it was a blatant photo op. He can meet the troops anytime he wants. But to get off that plane and run around in his jump suit - I, politically, thought it was not smart for him because it opens up all those issues again of how he never fought in a war ...
SLIWA: Where are the complaints coming from ...
MCAULIFFE: ... how he was in the National Guard in Alabama and was MIA for a year ...
SLIWA: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second, wait a second. He did National Guard service. Where was your guy, Bill Clinton - a draft dodger who went and protested against America in Moscow?
KUBY: John Kerry, I think, was a Navy combat veteran ...
SLIWA: We're talking about Bill Clinton. Terry McAuliffe and Bill Clinton are gombarahcheeches. How do you answer that?
KUBY: Clinton isn't running.
MCAULIFFE: First of all, George Bush ran against Al Gore, who did, gentlemen, serve in Vietnam, was over in Vietnam. You know, at some point you've got to move on from Bill Clinton. In 2004, we will not have Bill Clinton on the ballot. We won't have Al Gore. We'll have someone new on the ballot. George Bush will be on the ballot. He opened it up, walking around with his flight suit. He was MIA in Alabama. His father [unintelligible] out of trouble.
SLIWA: You are so vile. You are so vile.
KUBY: Boys, boys. We have to move on. Terry McAuliffe, thank you so much for being with us.
MCAULIFFE: Let's do this every day.
KUBY: We'd really like you to come back, and I hope you have a better day in New York for the rest of the day than you did here.
MCAULIFFE: People really got their coffee going now.
SLIWA: Okay. It's 7:33, with the hillbillies and thugs in Arkansas who hijacked the New York State Democratic Party. [End of Excerpt.]
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
George W. Bush
DNC
Editor's note:
"CATASTROPHE" Reveals Bill Clinton’s Role in 9/11 - Click Here to find out more
May 12, 2003- DNC Chairman McAuliffe Statement on Bush's Photo Op Costing Workers a Day of Pay
Don't ya just love it when CNN's print bites back.
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