No, Nancy Pelosi doesn't routinely fly around in an Air Force One-sized jet.
Yes, she extends the Speaker Shuttle perk to her family and colleagues.
The next speaker will control the House of Representatives, and with it one of the biggest perks in politics: free flights on luxury jets that are the military versions of a Gulfstream V. Well, they're free to the speaker, but paid for by your tax dollars.
How much? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office says it doesn't receive "comprehensive cost estimates." Military documents indicate a one-way flight for the current speaker (between Washington D.C. and California) costs, on average, $28,210.
Figuring out the details about the so-called "Speaker Shuttle" service and how it's been used isn't easy. The information is undeniably public in nature, but it's not readily-available. Our attempts to contact the office of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert went unanswered. Pelosi's office provided some information, but a spokesman told us the office simply don't keep track of what types of planes Pelosi flies where and who's aboard.
The military does track all of that, but getting the answers requires filing a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request. It can take months for a FOIA response to be answered, and then the material provided is jumbled chronologically and often incomplete. - CBS News Story
No comments:
Post a Comment