The 2010 election seemed to be about voters repudiating the $14 trillion national debt, yet politicians of both parties continue to merrily squander taxpayers’ money on themselves. Whatever benefits my opponents is waste; spending on me is vital!The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Florida’s new Republican governor, Rick Scott, who ran as a cost-cutting conservative, held a ‘three day party’ to celebrate his inauguration: ‘The governor-elect, family and guests shuttled between events around [Tallahassee] in a presidential-sized motorcade’ of a dozen SUVs, paid for by taxpayers.
Reader Tom Beck of Princeton, N.J., notes that although Mississippi has the worst poverty rate in the nation and its governor, Haley Barbour, regularly rails against government spending by Washington, Barbour lavishes taxpayer money on himself, taking numerous personal trips in a state-supplied private jet.
Ben Smith of Politico reports, 'Flight logs obtained by Politico indicate that Mississippi has spent more than $500,000 over the past three years on Barbour’s air travel. That total does not include security and other logistical costs associated with his trips. Much of the time, Barbour has used the plane to go to fundraisers for himself and other Republican candidates and committees, to football games and to at least one boxing match.’ Increasingly, high-level politics looks a lot like a hustle – use denunciations of spending to get elected, then spend lavishly on yourself.