President Obama and his wife, Michelle, spent nearly $3.6 million on flights to Hawaii for a recent Christmas vacation – and the fact this caused barely a blink in the national media underscores just how far our nation's strayed from its founding roots, where humble servant leaders bowed to law, the voice of the people, and a moral compass that kept their more fleshly pursuits in check.
As Judicial Watch found: "Records from the Department of the Air Force reveal … the Obama family 2015 Christmas vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii, cost the taxpayers $3,590,313.60 in flight expenses alone. According to the Air Force records, the Obamas used both Air Force One and a Boeing C-32A, the military equivalent of a Boeing 757, which was apparently used to transport the first lady."
Two planes, one for Obama and the other, for his wife? Indeed.
"Judicial Watch also has obtained records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealing that President Obama's four trips to New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Palm City, Florida, in 2014 and 2015 cost taxpayers at least $286,416.64 for Secret Service travel and accommodations," the watchdog group reported.
Fueling the fire are these facts: The trips to New York and Los Angeles were solely for Obama to fundraise. The trip to Chicago was for Obama to help buddy and former White House associate Rahm Emanuel campaign for mayor. The Palm City stop "was a golf outing with no official activities," Judicial Watch found.
What ever happened to the concept that America was a government of, by and for the people – that politicians were humble servants of the people?
For far too long, Americans have endured an atmosphere that allows politicians to arrogantly dip into tax-paid perks without worrying about accountability, about pay-backs, or even – perish the thought – expressing any semblance of thanks for the special treatment.
Consider some of the special allowances those in Congress get, that the average constituent does not: Members are granted special treatment from some airlines so they can book more than one flight at a time, cancel those they don't need, and pay for only those they ultimately take. Some are also provided with special telephone reservation lines so they don't have to deal with those pesky automated systems the rest of peon America faces.
Another: Members are able to engage in some serious insider trading – the same sort that would get Joe and Jane Taxpayer tossed into jail or, at the very least, fined. In 2012, Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, a measure that was supposed to put a stop to conflicts of interest that dealt members financial benefits. But a few months later, this same Congress passed through a measure that gutted the accountability portion of this law. The ban still exists, but now members don't have to report their insider trading deals.
And how about this one: Members of Congress are actually awarded better death benefits than U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines who are killed during the course of duty. Die in political office? Family members are entitled to receive at least a full year's pay of the deceased – which, in the case of legislators, is $174,000. Die on the battle field, however, and family members are only guaranteed $100,000.
That's just a drop in the bucket of the special treatment politicians from both sides of the political aisle, Republican and Democratic, have been getting from taxpayers for years. Doesn't seem moral or just, or even American for that matter. Jesus in Matthew 10 told his disciples, "but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all."
Today's political leaders? Their attitudes seem this: I'm entitled. Their message to taxpayers seems this: Shut up and pay. So some speedy solutions would seem this: Be bold in reminding public servants who signs their paychecks; stop funding the main parties whose members work to keep power, rather than represent constituents' interests; and commit to vote for only those politicos who display the proper biblical attitudes of humble service, regardless of which tag, "D" versus "R," they wear.