CNN has reported repeatedly today that John Kerry and bush*

[Career Prole]

are "campaigning blocks apart" in Iowa right now.
They just showed film of Kerry's bus rolling in and bush* boarding Air Force One in Texas for the flight to Iowa.
Pardon my French, but why the fuck is bush* campaigning off a plane taxpayers pay for while Kerry's riding a bus? Aren't there laws against that? :grr:

[elperromagico]

1. Not if he calls his campaign speech a "policy speech."

I think that's a loophole.

[bif]

2. Nope. We're footing the bill, as usual.

He's been campaigning on our dime since he got elected. Except for the month he took off leading up to 9/11.

[Redbear]

3. I believe the Bush/Cheney'04 campaign has to reimburse

the governemnt for using the plane.

[LittleApple81]

5. Only the portion that belongs to campaigning... which is always hidden

behind some policy speech... so it is deemed to be very little.

[Frodo]

10. Not even that.

He just pays as if it were a 1st class ticket. It isn't like he has to calculate the trip as "25% campaign-related" and reimburse 25% of fuel etc.

[MallRat]

4. He's allowed to use the plane AS LONG AS HE PAYS FOR IT.

But frequently this year, BC04 has finagled a lot of "official business" excuses to justify the taxpayers picking up the bill.

All Bush needs to do is make one "non-campaigning" stop in the city he flew into, and his campaign is off-the-hook.

:grr:

[KurtNYC]

Small potatoes compared to the alerts

which cost millions.

[Ilsa]

6. This is one of those things I got over a long time ago.

I got over the incumbent having use of Air Force One and other taxpayer-funded amenities as an advantage. I'm hoping that during hard economic times it might actually help Kerry as voters perceive Bush as being privileged.

[R3dD0g]

7. He doesn't really have to do even that little bit.

He can just have his campaign reimburse the treasury for the cost of first class tickets from whereever to thereever for himself and any campaign staff aboard.

Forget the cost of his WH aides that are traveling with him and the fact that AF1 costs slightly!!! more than traveling first class.

But, the Repukes were whining about the exact same thing during Big Dog's terms, so I say we have to live with it.

[JI7]

8. Kerry said yesterday that Bush is following him around

it was kind of in a joking way. but that's what he said when some whore mentioned how at one point their buses were very close and would have crossed paths but the bush people decided to change directions to avoid it.

[Frodo]

9. Nope. And Kerry has a pretty nice plane as well.

What transportation Kerry selects is largely a function of what image he wants to display. The bus may be more appropriate than a motorcade for Iowa.

The president (whoever it is) obviously gets to travel on AF1 wherever he goes. If it's a "campaign trip" he need to reimburse the government for expenses (really minimal, he pays as if it were a 1st class ticket for him and his staff). If it can be spun as a trip relating to his job as President then the whole thing is free.

[Career Prole]

12. I didn't mind helping to pay for Kerry's plane.

Not even a little bit.

[Career Prole]

11. It just burns me up after what they put Al Gore through over phone calls.

http://www.liberaloasis.com/archives/092803.htm#100203
"The issue was allegations of fundraising violations by Al Gore:

ASHCROFT: The truth of the matter is that if the law's been violated, we should be able to ascertain that.

We can, if we have an independent person without a conflict of interest…

ROWLAND EVANS: …The attorney general has shaved down all the allegations that Vice President Gore apparently down to one single allegation -- which telephone he used to make these fundraising calls from.

Do you really think that alone is worthy of a special prosecutor?

ASHCROFT: …you know, a single allegation can be most worthy of a special prosecutor.

If you're abusing government property, if you're abusing your status in office, it can be a single fact that makes the difference on that.

So my own view is that there are plenty of things which should have caused , a long time ago, to appoint a special prosecutor, an independent investigator.

We asked for that on March the 13th of this year in letters from Republican members on the Judiciary Committee. And she's in a bad position…

…The man who signs her check is the man that she's investigating, and she hasn't been very aggressive about it."

Phone calls. Shit. :grr:

[Cuban_Liberal]

13. Sadly, he is *still* Commander-in-Chief, even when campaigning.

Air Force One is the C-i-C's plane; as long as his campaign reimburses the government for its operational costs, it's perfectly legal. Every incumbent POTUS running for re-(s)election does the same thing.

:shrug:

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

14. It costs the communities * visits $100,000s to provide security

They end up with the bill for police department overtime, plus the costs associated with shutting down businesses and schools (so the little tykes can see "the president").

[jmknapp]

15. Vacation mode

I used to worry about the President taking time off to campaign, but not this guy.

[floridaguy]

16. It's Bullshit! Being President vs. Campaigning

He came to Naples,Florida to pick up 2.9 mil at an ass-kissing luncheon and wink at the environmentalists. Thanks taxpayers, Fuck you very much.

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. Every modern presidential has done this

The President's campaign (or party) must reimburse the government for the cost of an airline ticket for any campaign related trips. If the trip is for both offical and campaign business, the campaign pays for 1/2 the cost of an ariline ticket.