Not that Republicans are angels - or even above the fray
- but it takes a special sort of arrogance... hubris... utter contempt for
"We the People"... to engage in the sort of petty-ante chiseling and
abuse of public office and authority that the highest officials of the Obama
Administration engage in on seemingly a daily basis!
Kudos to Zeke J. Miller - Time Magazine
* * *
* * *
Vice President Joe Biden, his wife and 11 other family
members spent four nights on vacation this August at a lakeside log cabin
overlooking the snow-capped peaks of Mount Moran in Grand Teton National Park.
* AND TRIED TO GET "WE THE PEOPLE" TO PAY FOR
IT!
The four-bedroom Brinkerhoff Lodge, where they stayed, is
owned and operated by the National Park Service. Under a policy adopted in
1992, after controversy over VIPs using the cabin for vacations, the National
Park Service banned purely recreational activities by federal employees at the
property, restricting its use to “official purposes.”
* ONE MORE TIME...
Vice President Joe Biden, his wife and 11 other family
members...
* WHAT KIND OF "OFFICIAL BUSINESS" ALLOWS ELEVEN FAMILY MEMBERS (IN ADDITION TO THE SPOUSE) TO TAG ALONG FOR FREE?
But in recent years, the park service has interpreted
that same rule so broadly as to again allow senior officials to take cheap
vacations in Grand Teton with friends and family.
* WHICH DOESN'T MITIGATE JUNKETING JOE'S MALFEASANCE!
While visiting the park, Biden held no events, kept no
public schedule, and his staff initially declined to answer a reporter’s
question about where he spent the night. Last week, after TIME uncovered
documents confirming his stay at the lodge, Biden’s office said the Vice
President planned to personally reimburse the park $1,200 for “renting the
Brinkerhoff” for his family’s vacation.
$1,200? ARE THESE CLOWNS KIDDING? FOR FOUR NIGHTS AT A
LODGE THAT HOUSES AT LEAST 13...?!?! (BIDEN; WIFE; ELEVEN RELATIVES.)
Under park service rules, the lodge is maintained for use
by federal employees for “training and official conferences” and for those on
“temporary duty in the park.” In practice, the superintendent of Grand Teton
National Park, who has discretion over whether to demand payment for the lodge,
has interpreted those rules to allow extended family vacations if there is an
element of official business involved.
* SOUNDS LIKE IT'S TIME FOR A NEW SUPERINTENDENT!
A Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman, Jackie Skaggs,
said last week the Biden family visit met the internal criteria, since the Vice
President received an official park briefing and tour while staying at the
lodge.
* WHILE STAYING AT THE LODGE... WITH HIS WIFE AND ELEVEN
RELATIVES...!!!
* SOUNDS LIKE JACKIE SHOULD GET THE AXE AS WELL!
Biden is not the only senior member of the Obama
Administration who has taken advantage of the Brinkerhoff...
* DOESN'T TIME MEAN, "...TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THEIR
POSITIONS IN ORDER TO UNETHICALLY (AND POSSIBLY ILLEGALLY) SHIFT THE TAB FOR
THEIR GETAWAY LODGINGS TO THE TAXPAYER"?
...in recent years for family vacations or getaways with
friends.
Records obtained by TIME through the Freedom of
Information Act show that at least four cabinet-level officials, a deputy White
House chief of staff and the director of the Park Service have made use of the
lodge with friends and family since 2011.
* FOLKS... I CAN SEE THE DIRECTOR OF THE PARK SERVICE
GETTING THIS PERK... BUT THE OTHERS? COM'ON!
Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa
Jackson stayed three nights in 2011 with her husband, and five other people,
including a person listed as a friend. She received a tour of a new air quality
monitoring station, according to a park official.
* THIS IS RIDICULOUS. UNLESS THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIP WAS
TO TOUR THE MONITORING STATION - AND IT CLEARLY WASN'T GIVEN THE MAKE-UP OF THE
"TOUR GROUP" - THEN THE TOUR WAS INCIDENTAL AT BEST... A SHAM AT
WORST! (A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO EVADE THE RULES AND STICK TAXPAYERS WITH THE
BILL FOR PURELY PERSONAL EXPENSES!)
Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood traveled there
in 2012 for eight nights with his wife, his daughter-in-law, three
grandchildren, two other adults and his son, Illinois State Sen. Darin LaHood.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
He attended the Department of Transportation grant award
event, according to LaHood’s office.
* AND THAT GRANT EVENT TOOK PLACE OVER A PERIOD OF NINE DAYS, EIGHT
NIGHTS...?!?! (I THINK NOT!)
(*SMIRK*)
Education Secretary Arne Duncan stayed there for six
nights with his wife and children in 2013. He attended a nearby roundtable with
tribal leaders and an event at a local school, according to the Department of
Education.
* SO... HIS OFFICIAL BUSINESS TOOK HOW MANY HOURS ALL
TOGETHER? (OUT OF SIX NIGHTS...?!?!)
Former Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, who oversaw the
National Park Service, stayed there with his family for three nights in 2011.
His office did not return a call about the purpose of his visit.
Former White House Special Advisor Phil Schiliro also
used the lodge for one night in August of 2011 with his wife and one other
person. The White House did not return emails about the purpose of his visit.
National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, his wife, his
son and his son’s girlfriend stayed for five days in August of 2012. The park
service said he had official business on two of the five days.” The director
took personal time during the remaining days,” a spokesperson said in a
statement.
Under federal policy, family members may accompany
government employees who travel on official business. “Family members’ travel
costs and incidental expenses are not typically reimbursed by the federal
government, although they may stay in the accommodations...
* MEANING A ROOM! MEANING THE SPOUSE DOESN'T HAVE TO STAY
IN A SEPARATE ROOM! "ACCOMMODATIONS" DOESN'T MEAN TAKE OVER A
FRIGGIN' LODGE SO THAT YOUR SPOUSE, KIDS, EXTENDED FAMILY, AND FRIENDS CAN ALL
STAY...!!!
...reserved for the traveling employee, as long as any
additional costs incurred as a result of the stay are covered by personal
funds,” wrote National Park Service spokeswoman Slayton.
* AND WHAT REIMBURSEMENTS - IF ANY - WERE MADE AT THE
TIME THESE VARIOUS INSTANCES TOOK PLACE? HMM...?!?!
The offices of several officials who stayed at
Brinkerhoff, including the Vice President, Duncan and LaHood, said there was
initial confusion over their need to pay for extended stays at the lodge with
family members.
Under National Park Service policy, “a bill of collection
will be prepared” for those who visit the Brinkerhoff on “project related
travel that will be billed to another entity.”
* NOW GET THIS FOLKS...
The Freedom of Information Act request returned no
documents showing that any bills had been issued.
The park service also produced no records of official
stays at the Brinkerhoff between 2000 and 2010.
* FOLKS... THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING IN AMERICA! NOT IN
BUSH'S AMERICA. NOT IN OBAMA'S AMERICA. NOT IN REPUBLICAN AMERICA. NOT IN
DEMOCRAT AMERICA. THAT SAID... OBAMA AND BIDEN HAVE BEEN IN POWER SINCE JANUARY
2009.
A spokesperson for the Vice President, who declined to be
named, said Biden’s office was still waiting for an invoice from the park two
months after the stay, when TIME made inquiries.
* DOES ANYONE... ANYONE AT ALL... BELIEVE THIS?
“The office understood from the park service that
personal use would cost the local per diem rate,” the spokesperson said,
referring to the a schedule of overnight hotel costs maintained by the General
Services Administration for a single hotel room. Biden’s office said the Vice
President will now personally pay $1,200 for the four nights, a figure that
includes an extra $10 per night for each additional member of his family.
* $10 PER NIGHT...
(*PURSED LIPS*)
That cost, which assumes that a four-bedroom lodge is
comparable to a single hotel room...
(*SMIRK*)
...is far below market rate for other nearby
accommodations, especially during peak summer tourism season.
At the nearby Jackson Lake Lodge, a two-bedroom cabin
that sleeps four without a view of the lake, averages $250 a night in August.
Nearby homes outside the park can rent for more than $1,000 per night during
the summer.
* FOLKS. THESE PEOPLE ARE SCUM. IT'S THAT SIMPLE.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education says the
park service “never conveyed” to Duncan that he would have to pay for the
non-official portion of his family’s nearly week-long stay.
* AND THE GUY WHO WAS SECRETARY OF E*D*U*C*A*T*I*O*N DIDN'T
HIMSELF QUESTION THIS... er... "NON-CONVEYANCE?"
* FOLKS... PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY REQUIRES AT LEAST AN
EXCUSE THAT'S PLAUSIBLE!
“Secretary Duncan requested an invoice for his family’s
stay and will reimburse the park fully for the time he was on personal leave,”
the official said.
* AFTER... GETTING... CAUGHT...!!!
* THESE... PEOPLE... HAVE... NO... SHAME...
A spokesperson for LaHood, who is now a policy adviser at
a law firm, said he made a donation to the park at the time of around $250
after consulting with Salazar. LaHood has since asked the park if he is
obligated to pay more.
* FIRST... LET'S SEE THE CANCELLED CHECK. (SERIOUSLY!
WOULD YOU PUT IT PAST LAHOOD TO SIMPLY BE LYING ABOUT THIS SUPPOSED
"DONATION?")
With the exception of a $150 check from Salazar, the park
service has no record of any payment from other officials for their stays,
though Skaggs said charges are sometimes directly billed to other government
offices and that the park doesn’t maintain records of those transactions.
* "DIRECTLY BILLED TO OTHER GOVERNMENT
OFFICES." HMM. HOW CONVENIENT. (FOR PERSONAL EXPENSES!)
There is evidence, however, that the park service is now
trying to improve its management of the Brinkerhoff, at least on the public
relations front. After being contacted by TIME, a computer with an IP address
registered to the National Park Service made alterations to the Wikipedia page
for the Brinkerhoff Lodge.
A phrase describing the property as a “vacation lodge”
was changed to “historic lodge.”
(A phrase noting the Brinkerhoff’s history as a
destination for “VIP housing” was deleted.)
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