Bob, Almaty
August 25, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Here’s a political trivia question I’ve never before contemplated: What’s the most expensive congressional trip in the past seven years?
According to the September issue of Washingtonian magazine, it’s former Virginia Rep. Tom Bliley’s 2000 London trip, sponsored by Brown & Williamson Tobacco, which cost an average $6,000 a day.
But possibly more interesting and fascinating is the trip that ranks number two. It’s Rep. Bob Wexler’s (D-FL) fact-finding trip to Kazakhstan, costing $29,951. No details in the mag about who sponsored it or when it was. But the concept itself is quite peculiar.
$30K to go to Kazakhstan? Is Almaty that pricey? And if Borat has taught us anything, it’s that the Kazakhs don’t care much for Jews. Maybe Wexler went over there to ensure that no more Jews would be thrown down the well.
Charlie (Colorado) said,
August 26, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
I’d sure throw in the Senatorial Shuttle trips of Garn, Glenn, Nelson … didn’t Orrin Hatch get one too?
Otis P. Driftwood said,
August 27, 2007 @ 8:24 am
I would say the Abramoff trip to Scotland to play golf — it cost Tom DeLay his seat in Congress and the Republicans the majority in the House. Can’t get much more costly than that.