Members Of Congress On Rome Junket Funded By Taxpayers

Members Of Congress On Rome Junket Funded By Taxpayers

WASHINGTON -- Summer is upon us and that means only one thing in the nation's capital: time for Congress to take a holiday at government expense.

Friday evening, a government jet carrying six House members, four of their wives, three congressional staffers and five members of the military, including an Army doctor in case anyone gets sick along the way, will taxi down the runway at Andrews Air Force Base.Over the next 10 days, the group, led by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Europe and Eurasia subcommittee, will visit five capital cities: Rome; Tbilisi, Georgia; Vilnius, Lithuania; Moscow and Lisbon.

Despite a debt crisis at home and an economy that will see many private citizens take 'staycations' this summer, this bipartisan congressional delegation, or CODEL, is hardly unusual. In May, Burton led a CODEL to Dublin, Vienna and Prague.

On board for this European trip are two Republicans and four Democrats -- including the non-voting delegate from Guam: Reps.Tom Marino (R-Penn.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.),Theodore Deutch (D-Fla.), Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas) and Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam).

Also along for the ride are the wives of Burton, Deutch, Hinojosa and McIntrye. According to the itinerary, Dee and Mike McIntyre will celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary in Rome.

Burton's latest junket, like all official government trips, has been planned in excruciating detail by military and diplomatic staff, the latter of whom are in the midst of a two-year pay freeze.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/2 ... 83862.html


This is the definition of chutzpah.... And yes, I see D's as well as R's.... Unconscionable in this time of crying about budget-crises and deficits.....

All the more reason to return the federal government to an entity whose power over us is strictly limited instead of limited only by its desires and imaginations.

Dollar wise it is nothing when the debt is measured in trillions, but image wise it shows that our representatives don't worry too much about losing their jobs because of such junkets.

Yeah, that's what we said when they started talking about cutting the few million that supports public radio & TV... When the debt is measured in trillions, it is nothing...... I guess it's whose ox is getting gored.

You don't expect the Congress to gore their own ox, do you? Why, that would be like expecting the president to forgo having his wife and children take a second jet across the pond to meet up with him in France. Don't you know that elected officials and their families serve as ambassadors of our nation when they visit foreign lands? (Need a heavy sarcasm emoticom to insert here - any suggestions?)

They don't work for us anymore.

CriticalBill wrote: They don't work for us anymore.

Nope. Until and unless we wrest control from the hands of the lobbyists.

[sarcasm]It is only taxpayer's $$, and there is an endless supply of that[/sarcasm]

Michelle Obama Africa Visit: First Lady Takes Family On Safari

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/2 ... ml#s298174

The first lady, joined by daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 10, along with her mother, Marian Robinson, and a niece and nephew, climbed into an open-air Toyota Land Cruiser in search of lions, giraffes, elephants and other animals on the sprawling Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa.

"Let's go see some stuff," Mrs. Obama said before she and her family returned to the vehicle after listening to a park guide's explanation about the mountains off in the distance. "Let's go."

I wonder how much this "junket", by unelected officials, cost America? Keep up the good work LJ. :Whistle

Nice. You highlight one thing out of her schedule and assume the whole trip was like that, calling it a "junket." Looking at what she did that week, it appears the safari capped the end of a busy week.

Here's a partial rundown of her schedule (easily found by Googling):

June 21: Meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma’s wife Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma in Pretoria; visit to the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.

June 22: Obama delivers keynote address to a U.S. sponsored Young African Women Leaders Forum in Soweto.

June 23: Meeting with U.S. consulate employees in Cape Town; visit to Robben Island, where former President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned; remarks to young people attending a workshop at the University of Cape Town.

June 24: Meeting with Botswana President Ian Khama; visit to the Botswana Children’s Clinic Center of Excellence Teen Club.

June 25: Meeting with U.S. Embassy employees in Gaborone, Botswana; family safari


Analysis: Mrs. Obama hits her stride as first lady

GABORONE, Botswana -- After more than two years as America's first lady, Michelle Obama won't say she's hit her stride.

Her performance on a good will mission to Africa, including an emotionally rousing speech about youth leadership and a packed itinerary that rivaled her husband's traveling schedules, said otherwise.

On her second overseas business trip without the president, and to the black motherland, America's first black first lady was warmly received everywhere she went, often with song and to the point of almost being moved to tears.

She spoke passionately about her causes, tickled and danced with some of the youngest Africans, and sat with presidents and first ladies, including Nelson Mandela, South Africa's former president and a hero of the anti-apartheid movement.

She held 20 public events in five days, landed on newspaper front pages and was fashionably dressed, as usual, including outfits with an African connection.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/ ... 35624.html

Personally, I think, the U.S. has ignored Africa in the past, including genocides where we looked the other way. It's nice to see Africa getting some attention for a change.