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October 24, 2005

Politicians just don't get it

Sometimes the government's great ideas for us tattle on themselves
and bring to light things we never knew were going on in the first
place.

President Bush just did that a few weeks ago.

In hopes of conserving gasoline he told the American public to drive
less.

Then he jumped into his airplane and flew back and forth across the
country logging about 15 hours in 7 days at a cost of about $40,000
an hour, most of it in fuel consumption. And I thought, man, for
$600,000 I could buy 218,181 gallons of gas at $2.75 a gallon, and,
at 35 miles-per-gallon I could cruise about 7,636,335 miles, which
would be difficult to do in 7 days in a Toyota. But, hey, I'm willing
to give it a shot if it is good for the country.

But that wasn't even the real giveaway.

He also told his White House office staff they could save money by
scaling back on nonessential travel, turning down air conditioners,
turning off office equipment when everyone has gone home for the
night, and by using public transportation.

OK, I have to ask, if the travel is non-essential, then why just
scale back? Why not stop taking unnecessary trips entirely, and why
are they taking trips they don't need to take anyway? How long has
that been going on?

And as to turning off office equipment when no one is there to use it
as a means to save money, I wonder why they have been leaving it on
up until now. They are on our dime, and they don't even have the
decency to turn off the equipment when they go home?

Which makes me think that if he really wants them to use public
transportation, maybe he should draw them a picture of a bus - just
so they know what one looks like. Otherwise they might make a mistake
and jump on his 747 at 40 grand an hour.

It all reminded me of a press conference several years ago where,
none other than, Ted Kennedy came to our newspaper in Massachusetts
and, among other things, talked about the need for energy
conservation. And for the hour he spent with us inside, his limo
driver kept the car running outside so the air conditioner could stay
on and the car would be comfortable when the Senator returned.

The more politicians open their mouths, the more I realize they have
no idea what is going on outside their little, tiny, catered-to,
insulated-from-real-life worlds.

Posted by Hourihan on October 24, 2005 8:06 AM

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