While talking about the need to bring spending under control, some members of the Senate live high on the hog and send the bill to American taxpayers, an investigation by Politico has found.
The web site’s investigation found Republican Senator John Cornyn racked up the highest bills for travel with Democratic colleague Chuck Schumer coming in second. Together, Cornyn and Schumer spend 10 times more than some other Senators.
Both Senators prefer private, chartered planes to commercial air transportation and think nothing of using taxpayer dollars for the privilege.
Cornyn, a Republican, racked up the highest travel bill in the Senate by spending more than $38,000 on a St. Michaels, Md., retreat for 59 staffers and by taking expensive, multicity charter flights throughout his home state of Texas.
Schumer, a Democrat, ran up the second-highest bill by routinely flying private charters to cities in New York served by commercial airlines.
On Dec. 2, for example, Schumer spent $4,000 to take a private plane from New York City to Albany and back again. Delta and US Airways both fly that 140-mile route several times a day, with fares ranging from around $400 to less than $200 if purchased in advance.
Comments are closed.