{"id":704,"date":"2007-11-02T20:20:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-02T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=704"},"modified":"2007-11-02T20:20:00","modified_gmt":"2007-11-02T20:20:00","slug":"huckabees-ongoing-abuse-of-taxpayer-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/?p=704","title":{"rendered":"Huckabee’s ongoing abuse of taxpayer plane"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Frequent flier<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Max
\nBrantley <\/span><\/u>Updated:
\n2\/16\/2006<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nArkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Seth Blomeley wrote a lengthy report in Sunday’s
\nnewspaper on Gov. Mike <\/span>Huckabee’s heavy use of the State Police airplane for travels that have
\noften included stops that enhance his national <\/span>political profile.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The
\narticle added details to Warwick Sabin’s earlier reporting in the Times on the
\nuse of the twin-engine King Air. <\/span>According to the D-G account, the governor has racked up
\nnearly a half-million bucks in private plane costs since 2002 <\/span>alone. He could have saved plenty flying commercial or
\ntaking a car in-state.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Sabin
\nhad reported earlier on reporting by a South Dakota newspaper that found few
\ngovernors with the unfettered <\/span>access to state-funded air transport that Huckabee enjoys. The D-G
\nreported that Republican governors in Texas and Missouri rarely use a state
\nplane, preferring not to charge taxpayers. Other governors who use state planes
\nmaintain <\/span>detailed public records.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The legislature seems to have no
\nproblem with treating Huckabee like a corporate exec, with unlimited use of a
\nprivate <\/span>plane to go
\nalong with a mansion, free utilities, servants, a vehicle fleet and other
\nfreebies.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

We
\naren’t so sanguine. Should taxpayers be paying to fly the governor to
\nRepublican meetings and Christian Coalition <\/span>confabs? Worse still are many flights to Nashville,
\nArk., which suspiciously suggest he uses the plane (and, in one case, <\/span>a state helicopter) to get to his
\nLake Greeson house on weekends. This is “official business”?<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

We’d settle for accountability, a
\nconcept that makes The Huckster churlish.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

He
\nwould take no questions from the Democrat-Gazette, saying, through a spokesman,
\nthat its reporter and political editor have “edited, twisted and
\ndistorted” his remarks. He won’t talk to us either. He simply doesn’t do
\ninterviews with <\/span>people
\nwho ask tough questions, follow them up and refuse to be snookered by a corny
\njoke and a sound bite. He’ll talk <\/span>on TV
\nand radio, where he controls the message.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

So
\nthis is for the TV reporters, should you get a chance. What security interest
\ndemands private plane travel for <\/span>Huckabee (and his family) rather than a cheaper
\nSouthwest Airlines flight to Washington? Why was he choppered to <\/span>Lake Greeson? Why, in fact, can’t he drive himself to
\nhis weekend retreat?<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Then
\nthere’s accountability. State employees must justify every single mile for
\nwhich they are reimbursed. Why should it be any different for The Huckster. If
\nhe cranks up the State Police plane, taxpayers are entitled to know the times, <\/span>dates, destinations and passengers. “Official
\nbusiness” is not sufficient documentation.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Sen.
\nDave Bisbee, a Rogers Republican, put it squarely to Reporter Blomeley, as Bisbee
\noften does. “Where do you <\/span>draw the line between campaign and official business? The questions
\nshouldn’t be whether Huckabee is benefiting. The <\/span>question should be whether the state is
\nbenefiting. The governor ought to be able to answer those questions.”<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Huckabee
\nwon’t answer those questions because he can’t. And the answers might prove a
\nproblem in his 2008 <\/span>presidential
\ncampaign.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Bill
\nClinton didn’t have to answer questions about the State Police plane when he
\nran in 1992 because there was no <\/span>state King Air then. Clinton’s questions concerned the
\nfree rides he bummed on corporate aircraft, duly reported in his <\/span>financial disclosure forms.
\nAmazing, isn’t it, that no similar accountability is required when the governor
\nuses OUR <\/span>airplane.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frequent flier Max Brantley Updated: 2\/16\/2006 The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Seth Blomeley wrote a lengthy report in Sunday’s newspaper on Gov. Mike Huckabee’s heavy use of the State Police airplane for travels that have often included stops that enhance his national political profile. The article added details to Warwick Sabin’s earlier reporting in the Times on … Continue reading Huckabee’s ongoing abuse of taxpayer plane<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-huckabee-shameful-record"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansasfreedom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}