"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 25 May 2006 11:32:45 -0600, Newps wrote:

Cheney comes to Billings every August
from Jackson on AF2, he then hops on the Blackhawk or Chinook and flies
to Fort Smith for some trout fishing on the world famous Bighorn River.

on taxpayers expenses? or has he to pay for the flight and all the stuff
for himself?

If he is not on "official business", he has to pay for it himself. However,
as with most things political (and not unique to the US), there's always a
loophole. If he combines the trip with something he claims to be "official
business", then the government pays.

Obviously, when he travels, he does his best to come up with some excuse to
be where he's going on "official business". For example, during a recent
fund-raising trip here in the Seattle area, he squeezed in a brief meeting
with some other officials, causing the taxpayers to pay a couple hundred
grand for him to raise another half million or so (I forget the exact
numbers, but those are in the ballpark). He basically doubled his profits
by spending a few hours downtown.

Cheney, of course, is not alone in this habit. Pretty much any politician
to whom the loophole is available takes advantage of it.

The thing I love most about your posts is that you spend so much time being
critical of the US and its government, as if your own government were
perfect or even free of the very problems you love to focus on. Oh, and of
course, the complete lack of aviation-related content in any of your posts.
That's great too.

The irony is overpowering at times. Are things really so hopeless in your
own country that you've given up trying to express yourself with respect to
there?

Pete