The years 2007 and 2008 have been difficult economic times for most folks in the 9th District who have been squeezed financially – not to mention facing bail-outs of Wall Street, banks, and the auto industry. Most people that is, EXCEPT our Congressman, Rick Boucher.
In between traveling around the District in these hard times, buying votes with MILLIONS of taxpayers’ hard earned dollars (“earmarks” – PORK – like, for example, $187,000 for improving the campus radio station at Emory and Henry College or building horse trails with Federal Highway Fund money) at a time when federal, state, local and PERSONAL budgets are in dire condition, Rick Boucher and wife have been traveling the world.
Did your family have to cut back on vacation espenses or other amenities during the last two years? Remember the gas prices?
Well, how would you like to have spent a WEEK with your spouse last Memorial Day holiday (5/23-5/31/08) in beautiful Oslo, Norway? Or how about just menial short junkets to Hot Springs (9/30/07) or Los Angeles (4/27-4/29/08) coupled with a WEEK in Tokyo (4/4-4/14/07)? Better yet, how about you and your spouse taking a THREE-WEEK excursion to Germany (8/11-8/30/07)?
Oh, wait, wait. The best part? How would you like it if your trips were fully paid for and sponsored by the likes of Microsoft, Sony Corp., various consumer electronics companies, Utility companies and Associations, Telecommunications, Time Warner, Media General, Sabre Holding Company, National Association of Realtors, Verizon Communications, etc., etc?
“CQ” reported their list of “TOP TEN” congressmen – of which there are a total of 435 – who have accepted the most money in FREE TRAVEL in the last session of Congress (’07-’08). Where does our congressman rank out of the 435 representatives? …………… 8th!
How much have you been able to spend on vacations for you and/or your spouse in ’07 and ’08? Mr. Boucher, and spouse, received $42,219.00 of FREE travel during that time frame. First-class air fare, posh resorts, luxury hotels, fine dining – all paid for by corporations and Associations. These are called “privately funded” trips. They are not illegal so long as they are disclosed.
Before a description is listed of Mr. Boucher’s (at least) FIFTY-ONE ”privately funded” trips just since 2000, it should be pointed out that his STAFF has also been treated to at least FORTY-SEVEN trips domestically – and internationally – including excursions to, for example, Las Vegas (seven trips), Los Angeles (six trips), Miami (3 trips), New Orleans (3 trips), Atlanta, Palm Springs, Cal., Orlando (2 trips), Hot Springs, Amelia Island, Redmond and Pasco and Seattle, Wa., San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Me., Taiwan, Yemen, Berlin, Amstardam, London, Manchester, Eng., Heidelberg, Ger., and Tokyo (2 trips). Likewise, those trips were sponsored by the likes of Yahoo!, Bell South, Comcast, Time Warner, Microsoft, telecommunications, Verizon, etc.
Descriptions of trips by Mr. Boucher’s staff are, well, …. interesting. For example, a WEEK’s excursion to L.A. was for the purpose “to study the Amtrak west coast operations”. Who do you think paid for THAT trip? Amtrak? One trip to Kentucky was “learning about agriculture in Kentucky”. That one was sponsored by the Council for Burley Tobacco. Remember Boucher’s favorable votes for TOBACCO industry? Two of the trips to New Orleans just happened to coincide with the New Orleans Jazz Festival. One of the trips to London just happened to coincide with Wimbledon (tennis tournament).
By the way, information concerning trips by Boucher and his staff has come from credible watch-dog sources such as “Legistorm”, “Political Moneyline”, “Public Citizen”, “Democracy 21″, “On the Issues.org” as well as others referenced on this website. Please feel free to confirm the data.
Las Vegas has been a favorite destination for Boucher and/or his staff – TEN TIMES since 2000 – all fully paid for by the Consumer Electronics Association. In an article by CNETNews on 3/29/06, entitled “Silicon Money”, it points out that Las Vegas’ posh Bellagio Resort is home to 5 bars, seven “fine dining” restaurants and fountains gushing choreographed displays set to music every evening. It was home to a cross section of Capitol Hill last year: 13 congressmen, two senators, and 65 congressional staffers, plus some spouses and children got a free trip to the luxury resort, thanks to a technology group.
The Consumer Electronics Association (which has paid for Boucher’s and/or staff’s trips to Vegas) footed the bill for the trips to the Consumer Electronics Shows. Its members include such large companies as BestBuy, Denon, Kenwood, Samsung Electronics, Royal Philips Electronics and Apple Computer.
The Arlington, Va.-based association is hardly alone among technology organizations that try to weild influence in Washington by paying for travel, according to an analysis of congressional records by CNET News.com In 2005, the technology industry spent more than $460,000.00 to shuttle Congress and Staff members from four key committees to conferences, company tours, meetings with executives and an assortment of other events.
“THEY HAVE BECOME MORE RECREATIONAL AND VACATION TRIPS, IN NATURE, THAN OFFICIAL BUSINESS TRIPS”, said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy21, a campaign finance reform group. “You don’t find a lot of these trips going to middle America in the middle of winter or to Florida in the middle of summer”.
Critics of corporate-funded travel warn that the practice amounts to BLATANT INFLUENCE PEDDLING. When a company pays for congressional guests to travel to exclusive resorts, “THOSE ARE NOT EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES; THOSE ARE CORPORATIONS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING BACK FOR THEIR BUCK”, said Craig Holman, legislative representative for Public Citizen. Especially, that is, when companies pay for first-class airfare and lodging.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association is a big advocate of sponsoring such trips as well as Microsoft. Those entities have paid for at least NINE trips for Boucher and his staff.
Mr. Boucher (and his staff) seemed to dearly LOVE to travel to Las Vegas (total of TEN trips for either himself and/or his staff since 2000). Those trips were to attend “consumer electronics shows” and were sponsored by Consumer Electronics Association. Trips to Montana to California to Arizona to Florida to Washington (state) to Nevada to Vail, Colorado to Texas to New York , or wherever in the U.S., paled in comparison to his trips to Japan (second time), London, Singapore, Edinburgh Scotland, Venice Italy, Germany (second time), Helsinki Poland, and Mexico – all first class and all paid for by special interest groups.
The aforementioned trips (51 for Boucher and 47 for his staff) were “privately funded” according to Legistorm and, again, can be confirmed by visiting their website. For obvious political reasons, Mr Boucher has, for the most part, done a good job of keeping his FREE travel activities “under the radar”. There have been some glitches in the past, however, such as in 2003 when The Washington Post ran a story on 8/29/03 entitled “Lawmakers and Lobbyists Mingle on Trip to London”. The article reports that “for most Americans, August is a time for summer vacation. For members of Congress, their aides and some LOBBYISTS, its time for privately sponsored junkets”.
The article goes on to say that few are as inviting as the Ripon Educational Fund excursions, which take politicians and corporate types to various European locales. They also reveal how corporate interests obtain access to lawmakers through privately sponsored travel. “This month, for example, 20 members of Congress jetted to London for a week-long visit …”. Mr. Boucher was one of the twenty who traveled for FREE, compliments of the Ripon Educational Fund. ”These politicians had no fear of getting lonely, however: MORE THAN 100 LOBBYISTS accompanied them, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.”
“There’s a fine line between the importance of an elected official getting a broader view of the world … and then trips which are really designed to give LOBBYISTS close access to elected officials”, said Chellie Pingree of “Common Cause”.
Let’s come back, however, to more recent and relative times in ’07 and ’08. Did you cut back on budgeted vacation activities in ’07 due to gas prices being too high ? In April, Mr. Boucher and “guests” were treated to a WEEK in Tokyo. In August, Mr. boucher, and “guests”, spent THREE WEEKS in Germany. He returned on August 30th, and in September spent a couple of days at Hot Springs, compliments of American Coke & Coal Chemicals Institute. (Please reference the “Campaign Finances” category on this website to see where “Chemicals” ranks in terms of donations to Boucher’s campaigns).
In 2008, when folks in the 9th District were even more squeezed financially, Mr. Boucher’s luxury travel over Memorial Day was exposed by U.S. News & World Report on July 16, 2008 and Mr. Boucher was even “spoofed” by renowned columnist and commentator, Robert Novak. Many people spent that holiday at home due to tough economic times. Not Boucher – and some of his Congressional cronies. U.S. News and World Report called it the time of “staycation” because people couldn’t afford to travel for the holiday.
It was reported that “64 members of Congress went on pricey, lavish jaunts either on some think tank’s tab or worse – yours!” “At least 64 lawmakers traveled abroad that week, MANY WITH SPOUSES IN TOW.” The largest contingent was 17 members of Congress esconced for five nights in $480-a-night Rome Cavalieri Hilton, courtesy of Aspen Institute, “a non-profit group famous for transporting lawmakers to chic destinations, ranging from the Grand Cayman Islands to Istanbul.”
On the other hand, 10 lawmakers (plus seven spouses, six aides and the House chaplain) went on a TAXPAYER-FINANCED junket to Slovenia. A draft itenerary leaked to The Washington Post showed the lawmakers were to visit a Slovenian castle, dine near Naples at a Michelin two-star restaurant and take in opera in Venice. The “official business” included laying a wreath at a U.S. air base and “discussions” on “various topics including climate change”. The article went on to say “It’s impossible to trace the true cost of these trips, because they generally use MILITARY PLANES and SPOUSES FLY FREE.
There were one or two others who “flew to Athens, most of it paid by some organization”. But what about our Congressman? Embarrassingly, “Rick Boucher and his wife, along with Henry Johnson of Georgia and an aide, Mark Souder of Indiana and a son, and Deborah Pryce of Ohio and a sister were flown to beautiful Oslo, Norway for a WEEK (5/23/08 to 5/21/08). The trip was courtesy of International Management and Development Institute.”
The list of trips for Boucher and/or his staff since 2000 totals at least 98.
Anyway, at least Mr. Boucher spent enough time in our District last year in order to campaign for Barack Obama – even though his own party in the 9th District voted for Hillary Clinton in the Democrat primary by a margin of 2 to 1.
Oh, wait. Effective in January, Mr. Boucher received his so-called “cost of living adjustment” (pay raise) of at least $4,700.00 per year. As Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense points out, things are “wired so that you actually have to undo the pay raise, rather than vote for a pay raise.” So add another $4,700 to the average congressional salary. Meaning that they’ll make $174,000.00 beginning January.
Because they’re doing such a swell job, right? I mean, Mr. Boucher is paid to “represent” the will and the values of the people in the 9th District.
As of December 2008, the approval rating of Congress stands at … 14% … the lowest approval rating in history.
You be the judge.
Rock-n-roll guitarist and author, Ted Nugent, wrote that dignity and honor needs to be restored to Congress – “an institution that is currently viewed by the majority of Americans as a corrupt, self-serving den of liars, manipulators, cheats, and thieves. Republicans and Democrats are both guilty as charged. In the not-so-distant past, these people would have been tarred and feathered.”