AP Investigation: 'Frugal' SC Gov Flew in Style

[BlueJessamine]

Source: ABC News

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford shed his fiscal conservatism on several taxpayer-funded international trips, including a South American jaunt that included time with his mistress, choosing expensive first-class or business-class seats while his aides sat in coach.

Sanford, who once criticized other state officials for costly travel, charged the state more than $37,600 for one first-class and four business-class flights overseas since November 2005, expense records show. Other state employees flew in the back of the plane at a fraction of the price, according to the documents.

The Republican governor, who balked at taking federal stimulus money after arguing it was an unwise use of taxpayer funds, charged the state $8,687 for a Delta Airlines trip to Brazil last year that included a leg in business class, state expense records show.

That trip ended with the governor's now well-publicized visit to his Argentine mistress, Maria Belen Chapur, and marked what he says was the start of a nearly year-long sexual affair with the woman he's called his "soul mate."



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=8106800

[hobbit709]

1. They're only frugal with their money.

when they spend other people's money, they spend like there's no tomorrow.

[lolly]

6. I'd go a step farther

They can be frugal with taxpayer money when it would have benefited those who need it most, but not, of course, when it makes life better for themselves.

[callous taoboy]

2. Just for one day I'd like to inhabit

bizarro world where up is down and wrong is right, just to see my skin crawl off of my body.

[Myrina]

3. Hypocrisy, thy name is "GOP"

:puke:

[bulloney]

4. But he refuses to accept federal money that would aid the unemployed in his state.

It's more important that he gets his little noodle wet in Argentina, doncha know?

[Cha]

16. I'm guessing because his wife who

is his main adviser told him it would look good on his pres primary resume.

[kskiska]

5. I remember how when he was elected he held a barbeque

instead of an inaugural ball. Then there were stories of how he closed off rooms in the governor's mansion to save money, and how he and his wife bought their clothes at Wal-Mart.

[dgibby]

7. He's so cheap that he built the coffin for his father,

and he and his brother dug the grave themselves. I've been looking for the link to this, but I do remember hearing him talk about it in an interview.

[Kali]

9. I wouldn't blame anyone for doing that

funeral industry sux

[jmowreader]

17. What's wrong with that?

Last I checked, a casket is a wooden box. Any halfway decent woodworker can make one.

[Lars39]

18. Sounds like a Sharyn McCrumb book.

[Doctor_J]

8. Hey, you can't show up at your mistress's door in a coach seat

:eyes:

[villager]

10. Sanford flies high on taxpayers' dime

Source: Politico


Sanford flies high on taxpayers' dime


Aside from the damage done to his standing as a social conservative, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s recent admission of an extramarital affair may end up tarnishing another of his political credentials — his carefully honed reputation as a tightfisted steward of taxpayer money.

A POLITICO analysis of hundreds of pages of state travel records requested to explore the circumstances of his affair found that in his 6 1/2 years as governor, Sanford traveled frequently and in a style markedly at odds with his political persona.

The records detail more than $468,000 worth of state-funded travel for Sanford and show that he routinely billed taxpayers for high-end airline seats, racking up more than $44,000 on business- and first-class tickets. He often stayed in pricey hotels that far exceeded the rates he imposed on other state employees.

On one overseas trip, the state appears to have spent more than $12,000 for the GOP governor’s business-class tickets for a September 2007 trade mission to China, while his aides flew in economy class for airfares as low as $1,900.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2009/07/17/obamas-environmental-legacy-destroying-pristine-tongass-habitats.html

[Zorra]

11. Typical republican. Oink. nt

[tomm2thumbs]

12. Spend as I say, not as I do. Didn't George W Bush say that?

he shoulda

[gratuitous]

13. Hey, being governor's a high stress position!

It's not like he's some kind of Charlie Lunch Bucket or Johnny Punch Clock who can just go off for a week without telling anybody where he's going or what he's doing! The governor deserves a little pampering. Oh, and you lot can't have any extension on your unemployment benefits, either, because the governor doesn't want to accept any of the filthy stimulus money. Wouldn't be ethical.

[BlueJessamine]

14. Duplicate:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3973208

[Cha]

15. The money quotes..

"This kind of lavish spending with taxpayers footing the bill just doesn't make any sense to me," Sanford said in one campaign ad. "If I become your governor, I'll fix that problem."

State Senate Minority Leader John Land recalls the criticism that candidate Sanford heaped on others.

"I reckon he's a hypocrite," the Democrat said. "He goes before the Christian right and professes to be one thing and yet his conduct is something else. He goes before the people of the state and talks about his fiscal conservatism. But yet when you see him in action, he's going first class and spending the state taxpayers' money."