Ahhhh… so the Whitewater Investigation CLEARLY passed the cost-benefit test. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! :m: Peace.
Remember the big deal the republican made when Clinton got a $200 haircut on the LAX tarmac in 1993? LAUREL to New York Newsday and to staff writer Glenn Kessler, for a record-breaking solo flight. With most of the nation's news media zooming in on the president's $ 200 haircut on the Los Angeles Airport runway and roaring about the disruptions his hirsutic hubris caused, Kessler took off in a different direction -- and landed on some hard, concrete facts. His analysis of Federal Aviation Administration records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that, contrary to stories of circling planes, jammed-up runways, and inconvenienced passengers (and contrary, too, to the apology the White House felt pressured to make), only one (unscheduled) air taxi reported an actual (two-minute) delay. Unfortunately, most of the nation's news media, in usual near-perfect formation, found neither time nor space to correct a story that had been wildly off course.
Let him have it GAO has better things to worry about right now; the executive branch is almost entirely sealed off from Congressional oversight, so I think the only point of pursuing the carrier flight would be if that was the only stone left to throw. However, I do think the carrier stunt will be an important factor in Bush's future. How stupid are Americans? If he manages enough exploitative photo-ops over the next however long, he might manage to bury the public's perception of the bumbling mess his wars are making of the world. For those embittered: After the 2004 election, you'll know how much or how little respect to hold for a certain proportion of your neighbors. For instance, I'm having a hard time looking at three-quarters of the people around me and imagining them either as stupid or cruel as the Iraqi Bush War's cheerleading section comes off. When we wake up in November, 2004, and the people have re-elected Bush, who will we have to blame? The "dirty Jews"? The evil GOP? A lackluster Democratic ticket? Or how about the voters themselves who bought the shiny package hook, line, and sinker? I think Bush owes our servicepeople an apology, but I'm as unlikely to get that apology out of George as I am the one I'm waiting for from Charlton Heston for insulting our military in order to stir his political pot. Of course, I don't know what to say about the admission that, "It's just not worth the effort to us to demand accountability from our politicians." After the abuse the GAO took during the Clinton administration, is there anything left of it that's effective? :m:, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
A quick flight on a small aircraft is a whole lot better than golden toilets. He is, among other things, the commander and chief of the american military.
Clockwood, it's not that simple. 1) The carrier was 30 miles offshore. Bush lied, saying that it was too far to get to by helo. What was all that you were saying about how Clinton was evil 'cos he lied? 2) The carrier was delayed by a day in order to allow the photo op to go ahead during prime time. Do you know how much it costs to delay an aircraft carrier by a day? Between fuel, food, pay for sailors (who, let's not forget, had been away from home for 10 months allready), operating costs for keeping the fighters in the air and escort ships around (what, you thought that they wouldn't have the fighters up with the commander in chief on board?), it's measured in the millions of dollars. All this for one photo-op, that could have been done from washington just as easily. So basicly, he just used taxpayer's money and US armed forces time and assets to make a campaign advert for the 2004 election. So, exactly how is this not as bad as getting blown by an intern in the oval office?
I don't see the big deal and air-craft carrier menuevers all the time its called training. Imagine and airplane landing on a aircraft carrier? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! He didn't commit a felon. Nor did he use his position of power to get sexual favors.
Sparky: 1. Clinton evil? No, I said he was a worthless butterball who never got anything done. His lying was minor and adultry isnt illegal. 2. You perfer pallaces? A plane ride is a minor luxury when you compare it to what leaders (in many countries, even ones you probabally like) have done. This is a country where anything in single digit millions is chump change to the national government. Many of our non-nuclear missles go for more than a million dollars each.
one more time GAO should go over his benefit-cost analysis again. I think the willingness to pay for an investigation by some people in US is not that low. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Why do you think President Bush that? Isnt it obvious why he did it Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
wow, what an excuse- "too long, too expensive" give me a calculator and a library and i will find out how much gasoline is guzzled by a S-3 viking in a 30 mile trip vs a CH-53 helicopter...Hell, Give me CNN. THey have pretty little 3-D models. Im sickened. Oh well, who knows, maybe he'll actually get elected this time.
Training is a valid use for the resources. A photo-op that will get used as a campaign ad is not - I don't know about this aspect of US law, but even in Ireland that would be illegal. Besides, this wasn't a scheduled and planned event, this was pure imposition. Technically, Bush executed felons Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! And we don't know about the sexual favours. But we do know that he got a place in the Texas National Guard during a time of war through his fathers position of power, we know that he got out of completing his service through abusing power, we know that he made millions through insider trading and got away with it through abuse of power - and those are far worse than getting blown by an intern. Who wasn't coerced, forced or anything remotely similar, as she stated. Ah. My error, confused you with another republican. Well, if you think that a leader is okay because he's better than Hussein, you've got very low standards. And a million dollars isn't chump change. It's enough to save thousands of lives in many places on this planet, where people regularly starve to death, or die from easily- and cheaply-treated diseases. It's not just the extra gas. (Jet A-1 anyway, but never mind). There's the matter of paying for the extra fuel for the carrier, the extra food eaten by the sailors, the extra fuel for the fighter screen that was kept up while the president was aboard.... Of course, you could just have read what I posted before....
wow arent you a cynic. Of course i DID read what you wrote, bu thought t rather obvious to mention. Directly however, the difference in flight costs between Marine One and "Navy One" is monutmental. Obviously and Airplane which is larger and travels faster uses more fuel than the slower and smaller helicopter. In just that respect, the costs are Much higher. For the sailors and ships, it goes into millions, but of course the inquiry would be mainly into the flight itself, focusing on Those specific costs. Sheesh i gotta stop thinking everything is obvious...
The cost of operating the S3 Viking is $7.00 per hour more than the rather large helicopter that would have been used instead. Since flys much faster, I would guess 400mph vs 150mph, It seems the S3 was the cheaper ride. S3s are designed to be fuel eficient, not fast. The carrier was not delayed in it's arrival at North Island (San Diego). It arrived as had been scheduled many weeks before. I figure the carrier and it's suport ships sped up a bit to allow for the presidential visit. Sailors eat and get paid in port or at sea. No extra cost there even IF they had been delayed. The GAO had nothing. There was nothing. As for the president lying about the location of the carrier, the only folks I have heard that from are the Hate Bush Firsters, not Bush or even his staff.
Re: Let him have it Hey now, don't take such a pessimistic view. Most American's voted for the other guy in 2000, maybe we will get just that lucky in 2004, only this time there won't be a big conspiracy to help Bush into office. And hey, one thing you've got to admit, is that Bush is the best President of the United States, that was ever appointed by the Supreme Court.
