Passenger Confronts GOP Congressman Over Flying First Class During Shutdown

[HenryChinaski]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...vernment-shutdown_us_5c477fe1e4b083c46d634be8

WASHINGTON ― With President Donald Trump and the GOP prolonging the partial government shutdown, a Republican lawmaker had an uncomfortable run-in Tuesday when a fellow airplane passenger found him flying first class from Chicago to Washington, D.C., according to a video of the encounter shared with HuffPost.

“Congressman, do you think it’s appropriate to fly first class while 57 TSA agents aren’t being paid?” the person says to Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), in an apparent reference to the Transportation Security Administration’s 57,000 employees, who are being required to work without pay.

A tipster who asked to remain anonymous shared the video with HuffPost, which hasn’t been able to identify the person who approached Davis.

Davis remained silent, prompting the person to say, “Taking that as a yes.”

These politicians live lives and are privy to luxuries and amenities that the working class rarely experience and all on our dime to boot. Way out of touch with the real world.

 

[augustus]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...vernment-shutdown_us_5c477fe1e4b083c46d634be8 These politicians live lives and are privy to luxuries and amenities that the working class rarely experience and all on our dime to boot. Way out of touch with the real world.

That same exact thing could be said about Pelosi wanting to travel while Americans are working without pay. And she was grounded by her president like a bad little girl. That was priceless!

 

[Tanngrisnir]

That same exact thing could be said about Pelosi wanting to travel while Americans are working without pay. And she was grounded by her president like a bad little girl. That was priceless!

Nah. They're not even remotely comparable to any rational, sober adult.

 

[Mycroft]

From that HuffPo article...you may have missed it because of your misguided outrage.

Members of Congress can have the government pay for regular flights to and from their home jurisdictions, as maintaining constituency contact is part of their job. Unlike the paychecks of TSA workers, as well as those of hundreds of thousands of other federal government workers affected by the shutdown, those paid flights do not go away during a government shutdown.

Davis did not use his taxpayer-provided budget to purchase a first-class ticket and has never done so, his spokeswoman Ashley Phelps told HuffPost in an email.

His office bought a regular coach ticket, but he was upgraded automatically because of his frequent flyer status, she added. “There was no additional cost to taxpayers.”

Accepting the upgrade is not a violation of anti-corruption rules because it’s something available to any person who accrues a certain number of miles and wasn’t offered exclusively to Davis because of his position as an elected representative, an ethics officer in the House, who asked to speak on background since the episode is not under any official investigation, told HuffPost.

Now...if you want to object to taxpayer funded travel by Congressmen, I say fine. Heck, I agree with that objection. But, for a taxpayer to single out a Congressman without even knowing the facts...I find that deplorable.

 

[justabubba]

the airlines give the upgrade to the congressmen and agency leaders
the taxpayer does not pay for the first class passage

 

[jmotivator]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...vernment-shutdown_us_5c477fe1e4b083c46d634be8 These politicians live lives and are privy to luxuries and amenities that the working class rarely experience and all on our dime to boot. Way out of touch with the real world.

So how do you know who paid for that ticket? Do you know whether it was an air-miles upgrade? Where he was going? No? Your anger is fueled by your ignorance.

 

[Harshaw]

Nah. They're not even remotely comparable to any rational, sober adult.

Correct. Pelosi, on Air Force equipment, would have been traveling on the taxpayer's money.

The Congressman in question here was flying on his own dime.

They are not remotely comparable to any rational, sober adult.

 

[jmotivator]

Correct. Pelosi, on Air Force equipment, would have been traveling on the taxpayer's money.

The Congressman in question here was flying on his own dime.

They are not remotely comparable to any rational, sober adult.

It's pretty amazing that the HuffPo can actually take the time to write the whole article and not realize how stupid it sounds given the facts.

And just sad that HenryChinaski can build up that much rage on zero real knowledge of the situation.

 

[Barnacle]

Correct. Pelosi, on Air Force equipment, would have been traveling on the taxpayer's money.

The Congressman in question here was flying on his own dime.

They are not remotely comparable to any rational, sober adult.

The left doesn't have any of those ... hence this thread.

 

[joko104]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...vernment-shutdown_us_5c477fe1e4b083c46d634be8 These politicians live lives and are privy to luxuries and amenities that the working class rarely experience and all on our dime to boot. Way out of touch with the real world.

Damn Republican. He should have been flying privately like Nancy Pelosi demanded for her week long European vacation she had planned.

 

[joko104]

It's pretty amazing that the HuffPo can actually take the time to write the whole article and not realize how stupid it sounds given the facts.

And just sad that HenryChinaski can build up that much rage on zero real knowledge of the situation.

Huffpo is just a lying partisan blog, nothing else.

 

[Common Sense 1]

Please see post # 4!


Useless thread.............. Oh the outrage?

Thanks to Mycroft for actually reading the story!!
Thread stopper.

 

[EnigmaO01]

From what I have read the government does not pay for their tickets and they fly coach unless they upgrade on their own dime. However

One very solid perk of being a congressman is the free, premium parking at both Dulles and Reagan National Airport next to the terminals, as well as head-of-the-line privileges for security lines. That even beats TSA PreCheck.

https://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/how-government-officials-fly/

 

[HenryChinaski]

So how do you know who paid for that ticket? Do you know whether it was an air-miles upgrade? Where he was going? No? Your anger is fueled by your ignorance.

I'm not angry.

 

[GDViking]

From that HuffPo article...you may have missed it because of your misguided outrage.



Now...if you want to object to taxpayer funded travel by Congressmen, I say fine. Heck, I agree with that objection. But, for a taxpayer to single out a Congressman without even knowing the facts...I find that deplorable.

In that case the congressman should have explained exactly that.

He was being legitimately questioned by an American citizen about his expenditures about that flight.

He could have easily set things straight, but it appears he was to embarrassed to respond....

 

[HenryChinaski]

In that case the congressman should have explained exactly that.

He was being legitimately questioned by an American citizen about his expenditures about that flight.

He could have easily set things straight, but it appears he was to embarrassed to respond....

Exactly.

 

[GDViking]

Correct. Pelosi, on Air Force equipment, would have been traveling on the taxpayer's money.

The Congressman in question here was flying on his own dime.

They are not remotely comparable to any rational, sober adult.

Wrong, those tickets were purchased with taxpayer dollars.

They are paid for as part of his per diems that is not money out of his pocket.

 

[Mycroft]

In that case the congressman should have explained exactly that.

He was being legitimately questioned by an American citizen about his expenditures about that flight.

He could have easily set things straight, but it appears he was to embarrassed to respond....

He could have. Perhaps he should have. What makes you think he was embarrassed?

In any case, the other passenger didn't question him about the expenditure.

“Congressman, do you think it’s appropriate to fly first class while 57 TSA agents aren’t being paid?”

There is no indication that the passenger was referring to him flying on the taxpayer's dime.

 

[HumblePi]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...vernment-shutdown_us_5c477fe1e4b083c46d634be8 These politicians live lives and are privy to luxuries and amenities that the working class rarely experience and all on our dime to boot. Way out of touch with the real world.

Isolated silos. These people are far removed from the every day lives of the majority of people in this country. But, putting that aside, the men and women that serve in Congress deserve to be given some privilege by way of extra security when traveling considering the importance of their roles in creating and overseeing the laws that affect everyone in this country. I don't consider traveling first class on flights to be an abuse of tax dollars. I see abuse of tax payers money to be exemplified by people like Scott Pruitt or Tom Price who literally blatantly took advantage of their positions to hire private planes to fly them to meetings that were within an easy driving distance. To take friends and family on an overseas business trip to Paris, all expenses paid by the U.S. taxpayer. Or, using tax dollars for a glassed-in secure booth right inside their office. Or using Secret Service to run red lights in order to get them to a fancy dinner engagement. That's abuse. Where was the uproar on the right while all those abuses were in motion?

I honestly believe that this administration had one collective agenda, to steal all and as much as they possibly could before they got caught.

 

[Carleen]

From that HuffPo article...you may have missed it because of your misguided outrage.



Now...if you want to object to taxpayer funded travel by Congressmen, I say fine. Heck, I agree with that objection. But, for a taxpayer to single out a Congressman without even knowing the facts...I find that deplorable.

Deplorable is a little strong don’t ya think? Someone who is angry confronting a politician when they have the chance seems to be fair game to me. They get a chance to blow off a little steam. No real harm done.

 

[Cardinal]

That same exact thing could be said about Pelosi wanting to travel while Americans are working without pay. And she was grounded by her president like a bad little girl. That was priceless!

The only common denominator between these two instances are airplanes.

 

[GDViking]

He could have. Perhaps he should have. Perhaps the other passenger should not have jumped to an erroneous conclusion.

What makes you think he was embarrassed?

Why do I think he was embarrassed?

It's clear he would not respond to a legitmate question from a hard working taxpayer in a public area. You know, no expectation of privacy, public servant and all that...

 

[GDViking]

The only common denominator between these two instances are airplanes.

Not really, flying military rather than commercial is by far cheaper.

And she would not need the extra security on a military flight she would on a commercial flight.

Trump just cost us more money, due to complete pettiness...

 

[jmotivator]

I'm not angry.

Heh. Limited correction is noted.

 

[Mr Person]

That same exact thing could be said about Pelosi wanting to travel while Americans are working without pay. And she was grounded by her president like a bad little girl. That was priceless!

Must defend! Must lie!

:roll:




The sooner you realize how obvious your game is - how you all run here to say the same exact thing in unison right after the conservative morning TV and radio shows have finished - the sooner you might have a chance at having a rational conversation.

Until then, you're all blaring the same lies, at the same time, and the harmony of it is unavoidably telling.