The disclosure that President Obama made a fundraising call from Air
Force One while returning from a recent trip to Colorado focused
attention again on the legal tightrope any president has to walk while
running for reelection and still wielding the many White House perks at
his disposal. His aides were quick to point out that a special phone had
been installed on the presidential aircraft for such political uses.
But the call came as Republicans were already howling at what they see
as a blurring of the line.
Their complaints were at their loudest earlier this year when Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office alleging that the president is fraudulently billing the government for blatantly political travel. But if Priebus hoped to stall the Democratic campaign, there is no sign of Obama tempering his use of Air Force One since Priebus ran to the GAO on April 25. In the 79 days since that complaint, the president has flown to 17 states. In only one of those states — Missouri, where the president gave a high school commencement address in Joplin on May 21 — was there no political flavor to the visit. In the others, fundraisers and openly partisan events dominated the schedule. And the itinerary closely matches the 2012 political map. He has gone to New York four times and three times each to closely contested Ohio and contribution-rich California and Illinois. He also has gone twice each to the politically pivotal states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, and Nevada.
That Obama has been undeterred by the GOP complaints can be no surprise to even the most devout Republican, given the fate of similar complaints raised against Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush when they ran for second terms. Additionally, Priebus had to know that the GAO would ignore his complaint. “We do our audit work at the request of Congress, so we wouldn’t start such an investigation without a congressional request,” noted Chuck Young, managing director of public affairs for GAO.
Read more: http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/obama-undeterred-by-gop-complaints-about-air-force-one-20120712
Their complaints were at their loudest earlier this year when Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office alleging that the president is fraudulently billing the government for blatantly political travel. But if Priebus hoped to stall the Democratic campaign, there is no sign of Obama tempering his use of Air Force One since Priebus ran to the GAO on April 25. In the 79 days since that complaint, the president has flown to 17 states. In only one of those states — Missouri, where the president gave a high school commencement address in Joplin on May 21 — was there no political flavor to the visit. In the others, fundraisers and openly partisan events dominated the schedule. And the itinerary closely matches the 2012 political map. He has gone to New York four times and three times each to closely contested Ohio and contribution-rich California and Illinois. He also has gone twice each to the politically pivotal states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, and Nevada.
That Obama has been undeterred by the GOP complaints can be no surprise to even the most devout Republican, given the fate of similar complaints raised against Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush when they ran for second terms. Additionally, Priebus had to know that the GAO would ignore his complaint. “We do our audit work at the request of Congress, so we wouldn’t start such an investigation without a congressional request,” noted Chuck Young, managing director of public affairs for GAO.
Read more: http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/obama-undeterred-by-gop-complaints-about-air-force-one-20120712
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