Birds of a feather ... fly together
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney keynotes tonight's GOP Governor's Dinner in Little Rock, a fundraiser for the state Republican Party that will be emceed by Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Romney and Huckabee are expected to vie for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, and while they don't see eye to eye on issues like abortion, gay marriage, and gay adoption, they do share a weakness for free airplane travel.
Less than a year ago, Romney flew on a Pfizer jet to a Republican Governors Association meeting in California. At the time, Romney was working on health insurance legislation, and he later avoided signing that legislation "in the wake of charges of possible ethics violations arising from his trip on a Pfizer-owned jet."
In 2004, Romney allegedly used taxpayer funds to attend political events at least twice and then held a press conference to say that he had no intentions of reimbursing the taxpayers for the costs. The Massachusetts Democratic Party filed an ethics complaint against Romney, accusing him of illegally spending taxpayer dollars on a trip to raise money for the New Jersey Republican Party.
Huckabee, as you know, has used the state police airplane to fly around the country at taxpayers' expense (with no record of reimbursement), and recently he flew to a North Carolina GOP event on a plane owned by the Lord's Ranch, which has a $8.5 million Medicaid contract with Arkansas.
Comments
the point?
Posted by: Anonymous | July 6, 2006 11:20 AM
Well, what else would you expect from the Party of Lincoln Navigators? If a corporate benefactor isn't readily available to bankroll a political venture, the taxpayers will be forced to foot the bill. By the way, who's paying for Mitt's trip down here? And to what extent are Arkansas taxpayers going to be out for tonight's partisan God & Country Club Extravaganza?
Posted by: Clay, NLR | July 6, 2006 12:04 PM
And where is an ethics complain filed by the Arkansas Democratic Party over the Lord's Ranch jet? I can't seem to find any complaint filing papers in the mess on my desk. Could we get a little help from the Democratic Party?
Posted by: Deathbyinches | July 6, 2006 12:08 PM
Actually, I believe their positions on abortion, gay marriage and gay adoption are identical. Mitt is a faithful Mormon, you know. Although, now that he is testing the presidential waters he says he is a 'christian'. Hmmm.
Posted by: Hillcrest Homo | July 6, 2006 12:16 PM
Yeah, Willett...get off your butt and file a complaint...
Posted by: rosso | July 6, 2006 01:44 PM
The Democratic Party will not file such a complaint since Dustin McDaniel often flies on the Lord's Ranch jet.
Posted by: Frequent flyer McDaniel!!! | July 6, 2006 01:51 PM
Birds of a feather fly together.
Maybe they can both use the same airplane & cross a foggy Tennessee mountain range.
Posted by: Reality Bites | July 6, 2006 03:41 PM
....what's the big deal?....
Politicians do this all the time? It isn't illegal is it?
Posted by: whats the big deal | July 7, 2006 07:41 PM
I heard the Huckabee bought a new pair of Nike running shoes...I guess he must be up to some no good illegal activity with the Nike Coropration...
Oh wait...I got it....he ate at Wendy's (only had a salad) the other day...He must be doing something illegal with the Wendy's Corporate folks....
Posted by: Illegal Activity at Wendy's | July 7, 2006 07:50 PM