SecDef Panetta's Commute

ATN_Pilot said:
I love how people get all worked up about a measly $870k, but when the previous President spent $1 billion to fight a useless war and get a bunch of innocent people killed, they cheered it right along.

Your phony outrage will be less phony when you start arguing in favor of gutting the defense budget. Until then, anyone claiming to be a "deficit hawk," or anything of the like is just laughable.
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ATN's been to the club! :) Uh oh!
 
Personally I don't have an issue with officials going back and forth to their homes- I DO want them to go home from time to time for a dose of reality. I will even grant that the SECDEF probably needs secure comms- and a C-12??? Cross country to California?? No thanks.
My only issue is the hypocrisy. We are told we have to be green; we hear railing against the rich fat cats riding their private jets; people yucking it up in Vegas. Then we see these same people jet around in a 747 to take their wife to a Broadway show and encourage government agencies to party it up in Vegas at our expense.
 
One trillion to fight a war? What about the $5 trillion Obama's added? What about the $870 billion in stimulus that has been wasted? If Panetta wants to be SECDEF then he should live in Washington. If he wants to live in CA, he should not be SECDEF. Easy.
 
BobDDuck said:
deadheading != jumpseating

And yes, a pilot commuting to work does do at their own expense. There may or may not be any fees involved, but if there are, the company sure as hell doesn't cover them.
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Yeah.... And it does cost.... $50 a person per year to go on the bottom of the STBY list.
 
Blackhawk said:
Personally I don't have an issue with officials going back and forth to their homes- I DO want them to go home from time to time for a dose of reality. I will even grant that the SECDEF probably needs secure comms- and a C-12??? Cross country to California?? No thanks.
My only issue is the hypocrisy. We are told we have to be green; we hear railing against the rich fat cats riding their private jets; people yucking it up in Vegas. Then we see these same people jet around in a 747 to take their wife to a Broadway show and encourage government agencies to party it up in Vegas at our expense.
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Do as I say not as I do mentality. Politicians are great at that.
 
Blackhawk said:
- and a C-12??? Cross country to California?? No thanks.
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I was just trying to find a fiscally responsible alternative to subjecting him to the slums of com-air. :) As for secure comms on a commercial flight, why couldn't he lock himself in the lav with a sat phone? It ( kinda) worked in Die Hard 2.
 
deadstick said:
I was just trying to find a fiscally responsible alternative to subjecting him to the slums of com-air. :) As for secure comms on a commercial flight, why couldn't he lock himself in the lav with a sat phone? It ( kinda) worked in Die Hard 2.
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Or he could use his shoe phone!
 
Blackhawk said:
Then we see these same people jet around in a 747 to take their wife to a Broadway show and encourage government agencies to party it up in Vegas at our expense.
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You're going to have to show me where the President "encouraged" government agencies to party it up in Vegas. Blaming the President for everything that goes on in government is a bit out there. He can't watch everyone all the time.
 
Your links don't indicate anything about what you originally said. The President allowed meetings in Vegas, but the "partying it up" aspect was not mentioned. In reality, Vegas is one of the cheapest places in the world to hold very large meetings and conventions. To exclude it would be irresponsible.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
You're going to have to show me where the President "encouraged" government agencies to party it up in Vegas. Blaming the President for everything that goes on in government is a bit out there. He can't watch everyone all the time.
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I think there is a lot to be said for the examples he and his Secretary of Defense have set. It might be hard for a GS13 to calibrate their ethical compass with that type of leadership.
 
I do think the delicious irony is that Obama, very early in his Presidency, was lecturing about how people would need to tighten their belts and not just go to Vegas - which sorely pissed of the Mayor of Vegas - only to have the latest scandal on his watch blow up over a...wait for it...government meeting in Vegas.

Now - as far as scandals - sometimes they are created by the administration (Watergate, Iran-Contra, Lewinski-gate) and sometimes they are simply something that has gone on all along, but blew up on the guys watch. The GSA thing fits that category - in my mind.

Much more damning is: Solyndra. Most Damning - in fact, THE MOST DAMNING THING OF ALL - AND WORSE THAN WATERGATE, IRAN-CONTRA, AND LEWINSKI-GATE: Fast and Furious. Bar none it is worse than all of them. Combined. The scariest part? The fact that our free media - without fear of jail - a group whose JOB it is to investigate things, whose whole purpose of existence is to aggressively investigate things - says little to nothing about it. American agents are dead. Hundreds of Mexicans are dead. All because of an ill-conceived operation that the administration insists on stonewalling Congressional investigators about. My guess - Holder will receive Contempt of Congress charges and perhaps perjury charges within weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Your links don't indicate anything about what you originally said. The President allowed meetings in Vegas, but the "partying it up" aspect was not mentioned. In reality, Vegas is one of the cheapest places in the world to hold very large meetings and conventions. To exclude it would be irresponsible.
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Sure. People go to Vegas to be sedate and to relax. Sure. That's the ticket. If I sent people to Vegas for a conference I would NEVER assume they would yuck it up like this. What? Were you really born yesterday???
 
Were you born yesterday? Are you aware of how many large corporate conferences take place in Vegas every single year? The city is practically built on the profits of such conferences. A conference in Vegas is not an unusual thing, as much as the anti-Obama forces wish it were.
 
As someone who throws Las Vegas gigs every year, having one in Las Vegas makes oodles more sense than say, Kansas City.

You want to throw something of any substance there, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association helps with the RFP's, will fly you out and house you so you can find surprisingly competitive rates with other cities. Everyone flies to Las Vegas, boatloads of hotel rooms and plenty of non-gaming entertainment options for your down time.

They have a good system set up.

And yes, much to many of our spouses dismay, you can get in more trouble at the TGI Fridays in Baton Rouge, LA than you could in Las Vegas.
 
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