An expensive reminder that Sanders still hasn’t dropped out: His Secret Service detail

[question everything]

BURLINGTON, Vt. — When Sen. Bernie Sanders, the now-vanquished Democratic presidential candidate, returns Monday to Capitol Hill, he is expected to be accompanied by his constant traveling companions from the campaign trail: the Secret Service.

Although Hillary Clinton has clinched the party’s nomination, Sanders retains one of the trappings of a top-notch candidate: A team of agents still guards him at his home, where they’ve constructed a small watch station on the property. They travel with him on commercial and charter flights and use a motorcade to whisk him through cities he visits. And they marched alongside him during a gay-pride event here in his home town after the Orlando shootings.

Such round-the-clock protection can cost taxpayers more than $38,000 a day. And with the potential for the Secret Service to be watching over Sanders through the Democratic convention in Philadelphia in five weeks, taxpayers may get stuck with a big security bill long after his campaign receded from the daily cable-news cycle.

The continued security presence also reflects a larger reality of Sanders’s muddled standing in the race. He has virtually no chance of becoming the nominee, and he is no longer pressing his case to party leaders that he should. Yet Sanders — who has championed the interests of struggling Americans against “the billionaire class” — remains an active candidate because he has not “suspended” his campaign or taken any other steps that would alter his official ­status.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/an-expensive-reminder-that-sanders-still-hasnt-dropped-out-his-secret-service-detail/2016/06/19/a3f717c6-3555-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html

[peace13]

1. So good of you to be concerned.

This is awful to present. I wonder what the author would propose happen?

[merrily]

2. Disgusting. WAPO posted an anti-Sanders piece every hour during the primary.

What did WAPO publish about Nancy Reagan's having a Secret Service detail until she passed?

Do we assume all animosity toward Sanders ceased when AP pronounced Hillary the nominee? Does anyone deserve to die because of running for President?

[Segami]

18. Garbage Bozo Washington Post paper pushing trash stories......

No, Sanders’ Secret Service Detail Isn’t Costing ‘Taxpayers’ $38,000 a Day


"...When FAIR reached out to the Secret Service for comment on the $38,000 figure, a spokesperson told us, just as they told the Post, that they “do not comment on the details of protection.”

This messaging trick has been used against Clinton, too, with stories such as “Investigating Hillary Clinton’s Emails Costs As Much As $13,000 A Day” (Vocativ, 3/29/16). In this case as well, a price tag is presented as though the FBI agents working her case would otherwise be fired if they weren’t kept busy with the email probe. But the FBI, like the Secret Service, doesn’t have 100 percent labor liquidity, rendering these type of cartoon breakdowns at best misleading and at worst demagogic...."

http://fair.org/home/no-sanders-secret-service-detail-isnt-costing-taxpayers-38000-a-day/

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Tut-tut, now.

[tallahasseedem]

4. I don't appreciate that kind of wasted money...

doesn't that go against what he's been preaching about? This is wasted money.

[hopemountain]

5. how is it wasted? there have been threats of

bodily harm aimed at this candidate as have been made toward all of the top candidates.

neither party nor the american government would want to have one of the candidates harmed during a rally OR convention.

this is for the public good - not just the safety of the candidates. therefor, it is not "wasted money".

[ebayfool]

7. Are you under the impression that SS people work by the hour?

Or that his detail would be laid off if he wasn't waiting for the convention? These people are getting paid, whether or not they are guarding Sanders. With all the wackjobs out there, I appreciate that he has that protection right through the convention.

If tables were turned, I'd also expect Clinton to avail herself of the same.

[SpareribSP]

6. This is a Sanders bash.

Sanders is still in the race until the convention. The $38,000 is an estimate, it probably isn't costing that much without him holding rallies and such.

[jillan]

8. Bernie should have should have secret service protection with people like this around

:large

[cwydro]

9. I don't begrudge him SS protection.

There are a lot of nutcases out there.

[Vinca]

10. Can't give up the Bernie bashing, can you?

You should self delete your post.

[Nonhlanhla]

11. The Secret Service details does not bother me at all

But I am bothered by the fact that he is not spending this time leading his followers towards unity by endorsing Hillary and pointing to the similarities between them. We have a seriously deluded GOP presumptive nominee to beat, and cannot afford not being unified and strong.

[DanTex]

12. Not a big deal at all. Even if he drops out, I'd be fine with him keeping SS protection

through the convention. He's still a national figure, and in the grand scheme of things, $38K per day is nothing for the US government.

[blackspade]

13. This bullshit again?

The first 4-5 posts about this smear weren't enough?

[zenabby]

14. In the grand scheme of things..

It's just another month. I am fine with him having secret service protection until the convention and nomination. It's a drop in the bucket really. But how long do you think the SS protection will continue?

[Sunlei]

15. all of them need ss protection from the 'home growns' as they ripen and fall from their trees.

[AgingAmerican]

16. Republicans harp on crap like this

Sanders would still have SS protection regardless.

[alarimer]

17. No, Sanders’ Secret Service Detail Isn’t Costing ‘Taxpayers’ $38,000 a Day

That whole talking point is bullshit. The SS has an annual budget, as does every other federal agency. They get paid for doing their jobs, day and day out. These are not temp workers hired for a gig. In addition there are fixed costs (like vehicles) already accounted for in these budgets. The taxpayer is not going to somehow get that money back should Bernie drop out. They would just shift to doing whatever else they might do. That's it.

http://fair.org/home/no-sanders-secret-service-detail-isnt-costing-taxpayers-38000-a-day/

The sleight-of-hand comes from taking a specific budget item and assuming that if it wasn’t there, the costs associated with it would disappear rather than be displaced. Wagner does this by saying “protection can cost taxpayers more than $38,000 a day,” which gives the reader the impression that if Sanders dropped out, “taxpayers” would magically get back $38,000.
Does anyone think the Secret Service is going to fire the exact number of agents assigned to Sanders the day he drops out? Does anyone think the additional vehicles and equipment needed will quickly be pawned off and the money transferred over to Johnny Taxpayer? Does anyone repeating this talking point think that if the Sanders campaign had ended one week ago the US federal government would somehow be $166,000 richer?

[magical thyme]

19. 2 of his offices shot at, 2 appearances where the stage was rushed

and wackos claiming on facebook that the only way to "get rid" of Sanders will be his funeral.

And Washington Post wants to help wannabe assassins along?

Billions of dollars wasted by inept, unethical and corrupt politicians, and they're whining about the supposed cost of protection through the process?