Price's office defends jet use: Helps him connect to 'real American people'

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill




BY JOHN BOWDEN - 09/22/17 09:42 AM EDT

The office of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is defending his use of costly charter jets as an administration official, saying that Price uses the jets to connect with "real American people."

A spokesperson for Price told the Washington Post on Friday that Price can't serve American taxpayers if he is stuck at an airport and misses official business as a result. “This is Secretary Price, getting outside of D.C., making sure he is connected with the real American people,” Charmaine Yoest, his assistant secretary for public affairs, told the Post. “Wasting four hours in an airport and having the secretary cancel his event is not a good use of taxpayer money.”

Price has spent the equivalent of $300,000 in taxpayer-funded private flights since May, according to a Politico report. That number includes at least 24 flights since early May.

The former Georgia congressman has frequently chosen to fly on private aircraft rather than commercial airplanes even when cheaper options were available. The policy is a reversal from previous HHS secretaries Kathleen Sebelius and Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who both flew commercial, according to the report.



Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/351871-prices-office-defends-costly-private-jets-he-uses-them-to-stay

[Dustlawyer]

1. Attacks previous administrations for wasting money and then has bodyguards and

chartered jets. With Republicans it is always, do as I say, not as I do!

[Faux pas]

2. Just another

greedy thieving bastid

[kacekwl]

13. He could connect with alot of those people at the airport and

sitting in coach. Loser.

[LonePirate]

16. Exactly. I just said the same thing before reading your post. That's the perfect response here.

[NCjack]

35. If he provides his itinerary to the MSM and uses commercial airlines

and public airports, reporters will be present to interview everywhere he changes airplanes. There will be real people there to ask questions. Or, maybe he really wants to avoid the real people -- yeah, that's what is happening with him.

[Faux pas]

43. ...

[barbtries]

3. what a fucking joke

it helps keep him from being contaminated by real american people. give me a fucking break, these people are beyond belief.

[keithbvadu2]

15. "contaminated by" - Good one!

[barbtries]

29. opposite world

it was like this with bush but under trump it seems to have grown into something close to a farce. eg this particular comment.

[moreland01]

4. Yeah, Right

Who the hell does he think is waiting at airports for 4 hours? That would be the perfect time for him to connect with the overworked, unwashed masses. He's so damn creepy along with the rest of the bunch of them!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Now that right there is some three-dimensional chess.

From the WaPo:

How Tom Price decided chartered, private jets were a good use of taxpayer money

By Aaron C. Davis September 22 at 12:44 AM

After Tom Price was sworn in as health and human services secretary, the Georgia Republican faced an inconvenience known to millions of Americans: His flight was delayed, an aide said, and he was forced to spend hours at an airport. The delay left Price a no-show at an early public appearance his office helped plan.

Price knew well the pain of flying to and from Washington as a member of Congress for 12 years. But now he was the head of a trillion-dollar federal agency and one of President Trump’s point men to fulfill the campaign promise of repealing the Affordable Care Act. Flight delays and no-shows would not do.

So began a practice in Price’s office of turning to private, chartered jet travel, aides say, to ferry the Cabinet official to and from meetings around the country — often at a cost to taxpayers of thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars, per trip.

Price’s office this week has sought to justify his use of chartered jets, first reported Wednesday by Politico, saying that the secretary’s office has routinely evaluated the most effective way for him to travel and has turned to chartered flights when necessary for Price to manage one of the largest executive branch agencies while also staying grounded with voters.
....

Jack Gillum, Abby Phillip and Carol Leonnig contributed to this report.

Aaron Davis is a reporter for The Post’s Investigative team. Follow @byaaroncdavis

[bettyellen]

23. Reporters have already said most trips had multiple airlines flying the route, so bullshit

[democratisphere]

6. redumbliCONs believe they are the political party of privalige and

can do anything they want, say anything they want and spend as much as they want on their pet projects. redumbliCONs don't give a damn about America or it's people unless you are the wealthiest of the wealthy. Americans need to repeal and replace redumbliCONs in 2018 and 2020. Price is a great example of pure 100% in your face corruption.

[catbyte]

7. What a load.

[onecaliberal]

8. Flying with real American people is how to connect with them. These fucking hypocrites are pathetic.

[DK504]

9. Fuck him.

He needs to pay back every single penny back. All other cabinet members go on commercial flights. If this POS can't figure out how to get the airport and get on a flight from Dulleshe is even more unqualified than we thought.

$300K in 8 months....Secret Service is broke.... and over 50% of vital jobs unfilled, or they are being filled by RNC interns.

This needs to be stories #2 on every fucking "news" casts. How many millions have they stolen from us in 8 months?

[NastyRiffraff]

10. Does ANYONE believe Price wants to connect

with "real American people"? If he did, he'd ride on a fucking plane with them. Lots of them in one place.

[James48]

11. Federal employees distance themselves from people like her.

Charmaine Yoest, his assistant secretary for public affairs, has only been working there a short time.

She is a political appointee, not a real Federal civil servant employee.

It is clear she, and her boss, don't have any idea about federal employee travel regulations.

This clearly violates federal travel policy, AND, if he really did need to use private air transportation, there is a process for contracting that he failed to use. The contracting process would have put him in a King Air turbo prop instead of a luxury jet, and it would have cost aount1/4th what he was charged.

Had any other federal employee done what he just did, they would be fired, AND would be criminally charged.

[Botany]

12. How do these people keep getting elected or put into power

http://ktla.com/2017/09/20/hhs-secretary-tom-price-who-vowed-to-cut-wasteful-spending-took-5-private-jets-last-week/

Price is a frequent critic of government spending. He told CNN in April that he wants to cut redundancy
and waste in his agency.

“For us to say, ‘OK, let’s just throw more money at that system. Let’s see if more money helps that out’
is the wrong way,” Price told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta.

[TeamPooka]

32. Americans are suckers. That's how.

[LonePirate]

14. He'd connect to more real Americans if he sat in coach and talked to his fellow passengers.

According to Republicans, the only real Americans are WWC Americans. From the countless flights I have taken, most of them sit in coach.

[Old Vet]

17. These republicans do it everytime, Took Clinton and Obama both 8 years to get things back in order..

Whether it be Reagans trickle down bullshit or Bushes weapons of mass destruction followed by another endless war.

[Shrike47]

18. Nobody with a brain would claim flying in a private jet helps connect with the people.

Unless, of course, only the rich are people. The lowly cattle car flyers don't count as people. CEOs matter, tired people crammed into too little space don't.

Fuck him.

[C_U_L8R]

19. Baloney

Let’s see your meeting schedules... I bet there’s not a single ‘real’ American on the agenda.

[Eugene]

20. That excuse just pegged the bullshit meter.

Connecting to real American people by travelling like a millionaire CEO. Really?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

21. From the Republican Urban Encyclopedia..

Connect to real American people = Meet with group of millionaire conservative donors.

Hold a town hall = Assemble a bunch of white Republican voters. At least 10% rednecks for show.

Meet with my constituents = Meeting of big businessmen opposed to progressive legislation.

Serve American taxpayers = Serve wealthy Republican donors with tax cuts.

Freedom = Shackles.

Conference = Golf.

Private jet = My car.

==

Could go on forever.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

22. "4 hours" - bullshit. He would not be waiting 4 hours.

[bettyellen]

24. Every other worker who flies has a laptop and phone and works at the airport if needed.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

25. and certainly he can "connect with the people" if he had an interest. nt

[AnotherMother4Peace]

26. The "4 hour" number is just bullshit his office put out. They've got nothing - he's a grifter. nt

[bettyellen]

28. As is that they lack plenty of options- most of those trips had three airlines going within the time

He needed. His time is not 1000X more precious than everyone else.

[JDC]

27. Up is down, black is white

I guess the word Private means public with this crowd and it's believers.

[SamKnause]

30. Fucking EVIL LYING HYPOCRITES !!!!!!!!!!!

[FSogol]

31. Resign Price, you are nothing, but a two-bit grifter. Stop ripping off the tax payers for your

luxury needs.

[ATL Ebony]

33. FAILED EXCUSE! Try Again. . .

If these "real Americans" that you need to connect with knew it was costing them $10,000 per trip they'd forego the pleasure. So, use twitter, FB and/or email, it's free -- even snail mail, if necessary. Other HHS Sec'y managed without adding a financial burden on taxpayers -- you should too.

[MGKrebs]

34. Don't they have office budgets?

Is it just an unlimited expense account?

[IronLionZion]

37. They'll have to cut benefits for poor people

and fire a lot of staff to make up the costs. or something

[IronLionZion]

36. Kathleen Sebelius and Sylvia Mathews Burwell must have been so disconnected

from regular people while flying commercial.



Republicans understand that tax dollars are better spent enriching their luxuriously lavish personal lifestyles than helping citizens get health care.

[Vinca]

38. But of course! Pardon me while I call up my private jet. Time to go grocery shopping.

[sinkingfeeling]

39. You know what really connects one to 'real American people'?

Flying across country in coach.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

40. Greyhound. NT

[3catwoman3]

41. That's a very creative...

...and utterly disingenuous explanation. What a crock of crap.

For a couple of years after retiring from one of the airlines, my husband flew for NetJets. One of his trips was a dad and daughter, who flew from San Fran to LA, so the 8 yr old girl could go to a birthday party. NetJet fees are somewhere $8,000-10,000 an hour. pretty pricey playdate.

24 flights for $300,000 works out to $12,500 per flight.

[MindPilot]

42. Maybe he can connect while standing in a security line waiting

for his requisite dose of harassment and humiliation from some self-important TSA goon. Just like us "real American people".