The Plane, Boss, The Plane!!

[Headhunter]

“Give her what she wants, or I’ll hammer your budget.”

— Johnny ‘Abscam’ Murtha
aka Da Boss

Pelosi’s push for jet remains up in air

I for one want to see Nancy spend $600,000 of our money to fly home on the weekends. Of course, her plane WILL provide employment for the staff of 16, and she DOES need a game room, spa, and all the other ‘finer things of life’.

Demo-crass!!

[vroom]

Now go and figure out if such waste and spending is purely a democrat issue…

If so, you might actually have something more than simply showing us what most already know. They are all a bunch of privileged people who view themselves as more worthy than the rest of us.

[Ren]

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
“Give her what she wants, or I’ll hammer your budget.”

— Johnny ‘Abscam’ Murtha
aka Da Boss

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070207-123706-5963r.htm

I for one want to see Nancy spend $600,000 of our money to fly home on the weekends. Of course, her plane WILL provide employment for the staff of 16, and she DOES need a game room, spa, and all the other ‘finer things of life’.

Demo-crass!![/quote]

Oh really?

Courtesy of CNN:

House security chief: Pelosi didn't ask for plane; I did - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not request a larger plane for personal use to travel cross-country without stopping, Bill Livingood, the House sergeant at arms, said Thursday.

Livingood said the request was his, and he made it for security reasons.

“The fact that Speaker Pelosi lives in California compelled me to request an aircraft that is capable of making non-stop flights for security purposes, unless such an aircraft is unavailable,” Livingood, who has been at his post for 11 years, said in a written statement.

“I regret that an issue that is exclusively considered and decided in a security context has evolved into a political issue,” the statement said.

Pelosi is striking back against accusations she asked for a plane larger and more expensive than the one used by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a claim published last week in The Washington Times.(Watch Pelosi call the GOP charges “a myth” Video)

The Times article, headlined “Pelosi’s Power Trip – Non-stop Nancy Seeks Flight of Fancy,” led the Republican National Committee to send out a research briefing and blast Pelosi on the House floor.

The article said Pelosi asked the Pentagon for “routine access” to a military plane “not only for herself and her staff, but also for relatives and for other members of the California delegation,” quoting sources “familiar with the discussions.”

“I have never asked for a larger plane,” Pelosi said. “This is a myth that they are talking about on the floor.”

The White House also stood behind Pelosi.

“As speaker of the House, she is entitled to military transport and … the proper arrangements are being made between the Sergeant of Arms Office in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Department of Defense,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

“We think it’s appropriate,” he added. “And so, again, I think this is much ado about not a whole lot. It is important for the speaker to have this kind of protection and travel.”

On Wednesday, the Pentagon sent a letter to Pelosi’s office with guidance about travel regulations. The letter said the military would make “every effort” to provide a non-stop flight to Pelosi’s home district, but “such support is subject to aircraft type and availability and therefore may not always be guaranteed.” (Read the Pentagon’s letter to Speaker Pelosi – PDF)

Pelosi’s family would have to reimburse the Air Force if they used the aircraft, the letter stated.

Meanwhile, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said on Thursday that he’s planning hearings this spring on executive and congressional travel on military aircraft.

Murtha said he’s requested from the Defense Department records on travel and logistics from the past two years. He asked the Defense Department to hand those over within a month.

Some House Republicans on Thursday were pressing for an amendment on the floor on Pelosi’s use of a military plane, according to Murtha.

Murtha predicted that Pelosi would end up getting a plane that would be able to fly across country without stopping to refuel.

“I’m seldom wrong on these kinds of predictions,” he said.

[vroom]

Come on Ren, how is Nuthunter going to spread half-truths and outright lies if you shine a light on the facts of the issue like that… ?

[Brad61]

She should take the Greyhound bus. She’s only the 2nd-in-line for the presidency, after Dick Cheney, if something happens to Bush. So she doesn’t deserve any special treatment.

Meanwhile, we’re still spending 2 billion tax dollars a week, to bring democracy to Iraq (or whatever the latest reason is).

[pookie]

[quote]Brad61 wrote:
She should take the Greyhound bus. She’s only the 2nd-in-line for the presidency, after Dick Cheney, if something happens to Bush. So she doesn’t deserve any special treatment.[/quote]

Well having Dick Cheney as “backup” is a bit like brining along a kleenex in case your parachute fails.

She should just use the Vice-President’s plane, since Dick apparently prefers to fly in his personal Star Destroyer.

[Headhunter]

[quote]vroom wrote:
Come on Ren, how is Nuthunter going to spread half-truths and outright lies if you shine a light on the facts of the issue like that… ?[/quote]

(1) Why is Murtha having to strong-arm the Pentagon to give her a luxury liner? Have you read what’s on this plane?

(2) You REALLY think the dude ordered up a plane for her without clearing and/or checking with her first?
“Speaker Pelosi, did you want a plane with 16 servants, a game room and a spa? Just checking.”

(3) Why is CNN to be believed at face value? Aren’t you guys always ripping the MSM? Or are they not members of that wonderful club any longer?

LOL!

[Headhunter]

From the link:

"Meanwhile, Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam of Florida said Mrs. Pelosi’s request represents “an arrogance of office that just defies common sense” and called it “a major deviation from the previous speaker.”
Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri called it a “flying Lincoln Bedroom,” and Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican, labeled the speaker’s plane “Pelosi One.”
“This is a bullet point to a larger value – Pelosi’s abuse of power continues,” Mr. McHenry said yesterday. “It began when the speaker denied minority rights to Republicans, continued with her ‘TunaGate’ scandal, and now she’s exploiting America’s armed forces and taxpayers for her own personal convenience.”

—for those who didn’t want to be bothered to read the link.

[Ren]

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
vroom wrote:
Come on Ren, how is Nuthunter going to spread half-truths and outright lies if you shine a light on the facts of the issue like that… ?

(1) Why is Murtha having to strong-arm the Pentagon to give her a luxury liner? Have you read what’s on this plane?

(2) You REALLY think the dude ordered up a plane for her without clearing and/or checking with her first?
“Speaker Pelosi, did you want a plane with 16 servants, a game room and a spa? Just checking.”

(3) Why is CNN to be believed at face value? Aren’t you guys always ripping the MSM? Or are they not members of that wonderful club any longer?

LOL!
[/quote]

Ok, how about one from the AP?

White House Defends Pelosi Plane Request

Feb 08 1:19 PM US/Eastern

By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House on Thursday defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi against Republican criticism that her desire to fly in an Air Force transport plane is an extravagance.

“This is a silly story and I think it’s been unfair to the speaker,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Republicans are taking issue with the size of the plane Pelosi would need to fly in to reach her hometown of San Francisco without refueling. There are three Air Force airplanes that have the fuel capacity to make the trip nonstop, with the largest being a C-32 plane, a military version of the Boeing 757-200.

In an interview with Fox News Thursday morning, Pelosi speculated that Department of Defense officials were distorting the story as retribution for her stance against the war and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

“There are probably those in the Department of Defense who are not happy with my criticism of Secretary Rumsfeld, the war in Iraq, other waste, fraud and abuse in the Defense Department, and I guess this is their way of making their voices heard,” she said.

The Pentagon this week informed Pelosi’s staff that she would be provided with a plane but that its size would be based on availability and that it could not guarantee nonstop service.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Pentagon agreed to provide the House speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips back home. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, flew in a small commuter-sized Air Force jet.

Pelosi said she would be happy to fly on commercial airliners but said the House sergeant-at-arms office urged her to continue Hastert’s practice of using Air Force transport. She said she was informed on her first trip home that her plane would not make it across the country.

“I said well, that’s fine, I’m going commercial,” she told Fox News. “I’m not asking to go on that plane. If you need to take me there for security purposes, you’re going to have to get a plane that goes across the country, because I’m going home to my family.”

Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, the No. 3 Republican leader, called Pelosi’s desire for a large transport plane “an extravagance of power that the taxpayers won’t swallow.”

“It’s important we see what the specific request was,” Putnam said.

But Snow on Thursday said the negotiations over Pelosi’s transport have been conducted solely by the House sergeant-at-arms and the Pentagon, with no direct involvement by the speaker or her office _ or the White House.

The guidelines provided by the Pentagon say Pelosi could be accompanied by family members, provided they pay the government coach fare. The plane could not be used for travel to political events. Members of Congress could accompany her on the plane if the travel is cleared by the House ethics committee.

Even the White House says the story you touted is a load of shit. What now?

[Ren]

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
vroom wrote:
Come on Ren, how is Nuthunter going to spread half-truths and outright lies if you shine a light on the facts of the issue like that… ?

(1) Why is Murtha having to strong-arm the Pentagon to give her a luxury liner? Have you read what’s on this plane?

(2) You REALLY think the dude ordered up a plane for her without clearing and/or checking with her first?
“Speaker Pelosi, did you want a plane with 16 servants, a game room and a spa? Just checking.”

(3) Why is CNN to be believed at face value? Aren’t you guys always ripping the MSM? Or are they not members of that wonderful club any longer?

LOL!
[/quote]

1. I have seen zero mention of a luxury liner. Where do you get that from?

2. Read what I posted. Its a bloody military plane.

3. CNN is not the only one with the correct story.

[Ren]

Pelosi said she’d be happy to fly commercial.

The White House and House sergeant-at-arms would rather see her in a govt/military aircraft.

Oh snap.

[BostonBarrister]

[quote]Brad61 wrote:
She should take the Greyhound bus. She’s only the 2nd-in-line for the presidency, after Dick Cheney, if something happens to Bush. So she doesn’t deserve any special treatment.

Meanwhile, we’re still spending 2 billion tax dollars a week, to bring democracy to Iraq (or whatever the latest reason is).[/quote]

What’s her position on global warming and carbon emissions again?

[Headhunter]

[quote]Ren wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
vroom wrote:
Come on Ren, how is Nuthunter going to spread half-truths and outright lies if you shine a light on the facts of the issue like that… ?

(1) Why is Murtha having to strong-arm the Pentagon to give her a luxury liner? Have you read what’s on this plane?

(2) You REALLY think the dude ordered up a plane for her without clearing and/or checking with her first?
“Speaker Pelosi, did you want a plane with 16 servants, a game room and a spa? Just checking.”

(3) Why is CNN to be believed at face value? Aren’t you guys always ripping the MSM? Or are they not members of that wonderful club any longer?

LOL!

1. I have seen zero mention of a luxury liner. Where do you get that from?

2. Read what I posted. Its a bloody military plane.

3. CNN is not the only one with the correct story.[/quote]

The plane is loaded with lots of goodies. And it sure would be a shame if she had to stop say, in Kansas City. You do realize that this massive plane will cost an inordinate amount of money to fly — $600,000 for a weekend jaunt, versus about $55,000 for the smaller craft, all so Ms. Pelosi doesn’t have to make a stop, something we all do?

When I went to China to get my daughter, we switched 5 times until we touched in Beijing. And Pelosi can’t stop once???

[Brad61]

[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:
What’s her position on global warming and carbon emissions again?
[/quote]

She says everyone should ride bicycles, for cross country travel.

The Pentagon chose this plane for her, then leaked it to the media (it’s got a king size bed!)

I think it’s a little warning for Pelosi from the Pentagon… don’t dare try to cut the military spending in Iraq, because we have the power to make things difficult.

[vroom]

Nuthunter, stop being such a complete idiot. I know you hate and fear Nancy, and Hillary (perhaps you have a women in power issue among all your other issues), but that doesn’t mean you should swallow every dick the rethuglicans shove down your throat.

Read the varied press coverage, and especially, if you can handle the big words, see what Tony Snow Job and the White House have to say on the issue.

Nancy has to fly further than the last speaker, so she needs a plane with greater range, realisticaly. As someone, believe it or not, important to your country she deserves the same treatment as anyone else who assumes that title.

Asshat.

[Ren]

[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Ren wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
vroom wrote:
Come on Ren, how is Nuthunter going to spread half-truths and outright lies if you shine a light on the facts of the issue like that… ?

(1) Why is Murtha having to strong-arm the Pentagon to give her a luxury liner? Have you read what’s on this plane?

(2) You REALLY think the dude ordered up a plane for her without clearing and/or checking with her first?
“Speaker Pelosi, did you want a plane with 16 servants, a game room and a spa? Just checking.”

(3) Why is CNN to be believed at face value? Aren’t you guys always ripping the MSM? Or are they not members of that wonderful club any longer?

LOL!

1. I have seen zero mention of a luxury liner. Where do you get that from?

2. Read what I posted. Its a bloody military plane.

3. CNN is not the only one with the correct story.

The plane is loaded with lots of goodies. And it sure would be a shame if she had to stop say, in Kansas City. You do realize that this massive plane will cost an inordinate amount of money to fly — $600,000 for a weekend jaunt, versus about $55,000 for the smaller craft, all so Ms. Pelosi doesn’t have to make a stop, something we all do?

When I went to China to get my daughter, we switched 5 times until we touched in Beijing. And Pelosi can’t stop once???

[/quote]

You are reaching for straws now. If you have a problem with the plane, complain to the Pentagon and White House. They insist she fly on it.