Republicans: Obama should pay for college trip
President Obama has been campaigning for reelection on the taxpayer's arm with blatantly political events in swing states, Republicans say.
Republicans: Obama should pay for college trip
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
House Speaker John Boehner Thursday called President Obama’s visits to college campuses in three battleground states this week “pathetic” political posturing and said the president’s reelection campaign should reimburse taxpayers for the travel.
Obama traveled to universities in North Carolina, Iowa and Colorado to urge Congress to stop the interest rate on federal student loans from doubling July 1 from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Boehner said that Republicans as well as Democrats want to prevent the bump, but there is a predictable stand-off over how to pay for the $6 billion cost.
“Our country’s facing some major economic and fiscal challenges, yet here’s the president wasting time on a fake fight to try to gain his own re-election,” Boehner (R.,Ohio) said. “These are the types of political stunts and, frankly, they aren’t worth it and worthy of his office. This is the biggest job in the world, and I’ve never seen a president make it smaller.”
On Wednesday, the Republican National Committee filed a formal complaint with the nonpartisan Government Accountability office, requesting an investigation of the college swing and other recent Obama trips to see if the reelection campaign is defrauding the government.
The White House and Obama for America, the president’s reelection committee, said that the travel this week was official because it involved advocacy on a pending legislative issue.
“One might imagine if this were a genuinely government event he might have stopped in a non-battleground state like Texas or Vermont,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus wrote to the GAO.
Priebus said “it is a pattern of behavior that is worsening,” saying the White House has charged taxpayers for dozens of campaign-style events over the past three and a half years.
Sitting presidents are required by federal rules to reimburse the Treasury for the cost of political travel – notably the $179,000-an-hour cost of operating Air Force One – but not for the massive security and logistical support system that necessarily accompanies a president everywhere. There is often controversy over what should and should not be reimbursed, and there are inherent political aspects to the job.
“We’re not going to get hot and bothered by RNC stunts,” David Axelrod, Obama’s top political adviser, said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday to announce campaign trips next week to Columbus, Ohio and Richmond, Va.
Comment removed.- Bush started 3 trillion dollar wars to win second term and steal Iraq oil. He failed to steal the oil.
Bush started 0.5 trillion dollar Medicare Part B to win a second term and let the pharmaceuticals sell products at highest price to the Medicare.
Bush provided 5 trillion dollar tax break for the rich to fund Republican election for generations. The cost is going up every year while the country suffers economically.
But we have to talk about 0.000001 trillion dollar airfare. Great!— Seed - So Fitz, where do you stand with this? You approve of the empty-suit using taxpayers money for political campaigning?— junethe4th
- Wow. And here I thought Bush was the Fascist:
http://www.infowars.com/houstonians-revolt-over-tsa-on-buses/— Phishface - Are we still paying for Secret Service protection for the Texas Bumbler? Let's cancel that PDQ!— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
- Comment removed.
- GOP candidates call Obama the destroyer of American, but when it comes to listing his offenses, this is the best they can do?— Jeff West
- Comment removed.
- Boehner and Priebus are two dopes! Last time I remembered college students are voters too who are represented by Congress. One thing a President does is to go out to voters to influence legistlation, whether Democrat or Republican. I wish the President would have added Ohio State and the University of Wisconsin to the trip. That way the heat could have been turned up on the tan man and toothless mouthpiece in two other key battleground states. Boehner, the tan man, was co-pilot in the car when the economy was run into the ditch! How many jobs has he created? He needs to do something for America, instead of fighting against everything and accomplishing nothing. I wish he would go back to running that Ohio bar, something that matches his intellectual capability.— dross
- What's the word? Oh yeah. Hypocracy. The Republikan leader of the Senate said that his main objective is to make sure Obamma doesn't get re-elected. Every single action and statement that Republicans make are political. Maybe Republicans could steal the headlines by acheiving something. Saying NO for four years while millions of americans are out of work is a disgrace.— MikeP
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
