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This week's report:

"TxDOT Airlines" Burns Taxpayers

As the price of gas continues to rise, most Texans are thinking
about the cost of transportation.  Many have opted on cheaper
methods, such as carpooling, or getting a more fuel-efficient
vehicle.  Perhaps we should take solace in the fact that our
elected officials do not have to spend their time worrying about
such trivial matters.

What follows are the details of an enraging report put out last
week by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility regarding public
officials' use of taxpayer-funded private planes.

The state of Texas maintains a private airline fleet for use by
state officials. Five years ago, some conservatives considered
selling it off for its estimated value of $18 million.
Unfortunately for taxpayers, our elected officials decided that
private planes were a crucial necessity, even during the $10
billion budget shortfall of 2003. Instead of getting rid of the
private fleet, they were just transferred from the State Aircraft
Pooling Board and placed under a less obvious ledger entry: the
Texas Department of Transportation.

We should all be thankful that it was a private fleet and not a
bank account for which TxDOT was accountable. TxDOT recently made
an accounting mistake that led the department to announce that
somehow they had "miscounted" $1.1 billion. But hey, what's $1.1
billion among friends?  Everyone knows that Texas is a friendly
state, particularly TxDOT with its "Drive Friendly - The Texas Way"
slogan.

Five years later, TxDOT has certainly been making good use of their
private fleet, using them to fly in officials for meetings about
the Trans-Texas Corridor, news conferences, and award ceremonies.
In fact, the satisfaction levels from officials that have used the
fleet are so high that TxDOT is estimating there will be a 57%
increase in the number of logged flight hours during the coming
budget cycle. Since Texas currently enjoys a budget surplus,
perhaps it is only to be expected if our officials take a few
celebratory joyrides on their private aircraft fleet at taxpayer
expense.

Perhaps what they do not realize is that they were not the ones to
create the budget surplus. The government does not create wealth;
the government only consumes it (especially in the form of private
plane exhaust). Wealth is created by the hard-working efforts of
Texans across the state.

When the good citizens of this state are having difficulty filling
up their gas tanks due to the spiraling costs of gasoline; when
purchasing food or paying the mortgage becomes a heated dinner
discussion between spouses; and when words like inflation and
recession are no longer on the fringe of Texans' vocabularies,
times can be accurately described as "tough".  Very tough.

USA Today reported that small towns have been hit the hardest by
gas costs, compared to major cities, like Houston, Dallas and
Austin. Middle-class, traditional Americans, who already face steep
taxes (in some cases debilitating taxation) often find themselves
to the point where saving money for a vacation and having extra
disposable income for a movie or other form of entertainment is
difficult.

Everyone in Texas is impacted by the depreciating dollar, which is
causing the price of oil to skyrocket, the price of food to rise,
and the costs of services to increase dramatically as well. These
rising costs are going to have major long-term financial
implications for this state and nation.

The future is getting harder to predict, and with the current state
of affairs in Texas and in the United States, one would imagine our
great state and nation are headed for rough times. This report has
documented the many failures of our elected officials to stop
immigration, liberal and conservative malfeasance, and attempts to
erode national sovereignty. Yet in the midst of the problems of the
day, it is still important to highlight the positives that showcase
the greatness of this state and nation. No matter how bleak things
appear, hope will always remain.

We must possess the hope that change can occur. Government
corruption, whether it is a Republican or a Democrat behind the
wheel of deceit, must be brought to a halt. This is an unenviable
task to undertake, as government officials love to callously toss
around tax dollars - your money. Trying to keep them from abusing
their privileged position is quite difficult.

Consider just a few of the recent instances in which our elected
officials have decided to use their private air fleet:

* Governor Rick Perry and two others flew to Baton Rouge to attend
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's inauguration.  Couldn't he have
watched it remotely (many Baton Rouge stations stream live on the
Internet) and sent a card?  Or else do something more productive
with his time than waste it participating in other states'
meaningless pageantries?

* Attorney General Greg Abbott and five others flew to Kerrville
and San Antonio for school safety events.  Can't the AG delegate
teaching students about safety instead of running up taxpayer bills
to make political appearances?

* Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and two others flew to
Houston for the Houston Livestock Show and a meeting with a Mexican
delegation.  Shouldn't the ag commissioner just drive to Houston
and stay a few nights, paying for his own gas and hotel room?

* Since the private fleet is technically under TxDOT's supervision,
it should come as no surprise then that TxDOT Commissioner Ted
Houghton required two planes to fly himself and nine others to a
memorial service.  On other trips, he and five others flew to a
number of Texas cities for meetings on the Trans-Texas Corridor 69
project.  Should taxpayers subsidize TxDOT's PR campaign to sell
building toll roads by stealing people's land?

* Not to be outdone, legislative members also make use of the
taxpayer supported private aircraft fleet.  Senator Carlos Uresti
(D-San Antonio) said that his constituents "want their state
senator at their town hall meetings. It's there for that use."  I
wonder if his constituents would agree if they knew the expense he
racked up getting there.

While it is commendable that an elected official cares so much
about spending time with his constituents, it is unfortunate that
he does not care more about the wasteful spending of the taxes paid
by his constituents. Time is money, but I think most Texans would
prefer a little extra cash in their wallet over spending more time
with politicians.

The problem is not that officials are going to these events. The
problem is they are doing it in the costliest way possible. Rather
than hopping on a private airplane that can cost up to $977.50 per
flight-hour, our government officials should fly commercial
airlines or drive, just like the rest of us.  Or, if they're
wealthy enough (and many of them are), they should pay for luxury
travel out of their own pocket instead of sending the bill to the
taxpayer.

Just because someone has been elected to a statewide office does
not make them too good to fly on a commercial flight or get behind
the wheel of their own vehicle and drive to their destination.

It is all too common for our elected officials to want to ignore
their own laws and do as they please.  The elitist preference of
many of our elected officials is to be chauffeured to a
taxpayer-paid private plane and avoid the inconveniences of having
to stand in a security line with the commoners. Why have to take
off your shoes and throw away any carry-on liquids when you can
prop your feet up on a private plane after helping yourself to some
onboard refreshment?

Lord Acton famously said, "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts
absolutely." It seems that even conservatives that offer glib
promises during election years decide that the temptation of an
all-expense-taxpayer-paid private flight is just too alluring to
pass up.

You should be upset at this abuse of taxpayer money. Call TxDOT.
Let them know that you are watching them as they waste taxpayer
money. Pay attention to stories like this and imagine if you
miscounted $100 in your budget, let alone $1.1 billion. Remember
that the cost of these private flights is coming out of your
pocket, not theirs.

The next time you fill up your truck and it costs $75 dollars or
you buy a plane ticket and it costs you $500, remember that you are
also picking up the bill for state officials to fly back and forth
to award ceremonies and memorial services, where I can guarantee
it's a lot more about politicking and backslapping than it is about
doing the state's business.

The next time you are stuck in traffic due to a construction
project that has overrun its budget and its schedule, remember that
is the real responsibility of TxDOT. It is their job to improve the
congestion on the roads in our state, not to maintain a private
plane fleet so that our elected officials can avoid those same
roads that normal people have to use.

In a time of economic uncertainty, you can no longer be apathetic
to government waste. We never should have been. We cannot be now.

Contact Information for the TxDOT Government Flight Services
Department:

http://www.txdot.gov/contac...

Email: http://www.txdot.gov/contac...

Fax: 512-936-9195

Sources:

http://www.empowertexans.co...

http://www.chron.com/CDA/ar...

The Peter Morrison Report
http://www.PeterMorrisonRep...

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