Taxpayers subsidize Cheney GOP rallies

[sabra]

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS06/607180351

Taxpayers subsidize Cheney GOP rallies
Roulstone, McGavick's $15K covers fraction of trip's cost

While the campaigns of Republicans Mike McGavick and Doug Roulstone only had to pay $15,000 apiece to bring Vice President Dick Cheney to the state, the committees organizing the event had other bills to pay, including:

For two Republican congressional candidates, Vice President Dick Cheney's April visit to Washington state was a bargain.
For $15,000 apiece, the campaigns of Mike McGavick and Doug Roulstone received media exposure, rallied their supporters and raised money for their races challenging incumbent Democrats this fall.

...

"There is no way $15,000 covers all the sizeable amount of costs for the vice president to be making these campaign stops," said Alex Knott, political editor at the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan government watchdog group in Washington, D.C. "Basically, it means Americans are footing the bill for partisan politics."

...

Despite the vice president's visit, both Roulstone and McGavick trail their Democratic opponents in fundraising. In quarterly reports filed to the Federal Election Commission, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens, has raised more than $1 million compared to Roulstone's $552,147. The campaign of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., reported raising more than $11 million to McGavick's reported $4.4 million.

[brentspeak]

1. Oil Can Cheney can't use his own money?

Wait, I forgot: Most of the money Cheney has made with and for Halliburton has come from the taxpayers' pockets in the first place.

[Beth in VT]

2. This drives me nuts. They usually tack on some official business

like an appearance at a military base to fund the trip.

[NVMojo]

3. I'd love to see a tally from the 04 election trips Bush/Cheney made ...

Air Force One and another plane landed in our buttscrew dinky ass town with Cheney in tow in 04.