The Senate's voting on lobby reform today and this is one issue that will come up - travel on corporate jets. In the
NY Times today, Senator Barack Obama told how he had his first flight on a corporate jet soon after becoming Senator, but gave it up because "he felt queasy about the perk." We hope a majority of Senators will feel queasy, too and give this up.
Even wealthy Senators like Ted Kennedy avail themselves, and their families, of this sweet way to travel:
The Abramoff imbroglio spotlighted lobbyist-paid golf excursions to Scotland. But another kind of travel, on company-owned planes, has long been an open secret of life here. Lawmakers travel in style at bargain prices without airline delays and security checks while companies, who often send their lobbyists along, gain access and a chance to build good will. "It's an enormous discount for most of these flights, a tiny fraction of what it actually costs to operate the plane", said Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who testifies frequently on changing lobbying laws. "It leaves when you want to leave. It goes where you want it to go when you want it to go there. You don't have to go through the normal security, and you get a lot more than peanuts."
Senators should follow Obama's advice on travel: "Commercial, baby."
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