posted on February 9, 2007 08:12:50 AM new
White House Defends Pelosi Plane Request
Updated 1:29 AM ET February 9, 2007
Listen to Audio Clip
By JIM KUHNHENN
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrat Nancy Pelosi received some rare help Thursday from the White House against a barrage of Republican criticism over how the new House speaker intends to get back home.
For security reasons, Pelosi is entitled to fly to her San Francisco district on military planes.
The House sergeant-at-arms, who helps oversee security for the House, suggested that flying nonstop would be the safest way home for Pelosi, next after the vice president in the line of presidential succession.
Republicans, led by aggressive junior lawmakers, seized on the most extreme possibility: Pelosi's flying on the military equivalent of a Boeing 757 with the latest in travel comforts.
Too expensive, some critics said. Too polluting, others said. Too much ado about nothing, the White House weighed in.
"I have never asked for any larger plane," Pelosi said. "I have said that I am happy to ride commercial if the plane they have doesn't go coast to coast."
To presidential spokesman Tony Snow, "This is a silly story and I think it's been unfair to the speaker."
During debate on a bill that encouraged research on advanced fuels, Republicans proposed an amendment urging planes diversify their fuel load to include "domestically produced alternative fuels."
The amendment singled out "passenger planes with 42 business class seats capable of transcontinental flights" _ exactly the specifications of an Air Force C-32 jet.
"The jet that Pelosi has produces 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide an hour, far more than the previous speaker used," said Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. Pelosi's predecessor was Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
Flying in a large Air Force plane, Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said, "appears to remove any spending controls from our operations and dramatically increases our impact on the environment especially climate change.""""
LOLOL! What a FLIP FLOP for Republicans!!!!
Hahaha!!!
"""Snow, too, came under criticism.
"He does not have a duty, as I do, to come to this floor and to discuss the consequences for our taxpayers," said Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz.
After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration agreed to provide Hastert with a military plane for added security during trips back home. Hastert flew in a commuter-sized Air Force jet.
Livingood said in a statement he recommended the Pentagon continue the practice, begun with Hastert, of flying the speaker back home.
"The fact that Speaker Pelosi lives in California compelled me to request an aircraft that is capable of making nonstop flights for security purposes, unless such an aircraft is unavailable," he said.
The Pentagon this week informed Pelosi's staff that she would be provided with a plane but the size would be based on availability and nonstop service could not be guaranteed.
The Pentagon's guidelines say Pelosi could be accompanied by family members, provided they pay the government coach fare. The plane could not be used for travel to political events. Members of Congress could join her if the travel is cleared by the House ethics committee.
Pelosi speculated that Defense Department officials were distorting the story as retribution for her stance against the war and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
"Why would the Department of Defense be not denying this information that has been conveyed?" she asked. "Why are they feeding the flames?"
Snow called Pelosi's office to make sure she knew the White House supported her use of a military plane.
He also distanced the White House from the GOP's take on the matter. The Republican National Committee said Pelosi was on a "power trip." Snow, asked whether the RNC is free to go after Pelosi on its own, said, "Well, apparently they did this time."
___
Associated Press writer Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
posted on February 9, 2007 11:44:05 AM new
MSNBC anchor promised to talk about Pelosi plane story "all day long"*
MSNBC News Live host Chris Jansing asserted on February 8, without evidence, that the Republican accusation that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) requested a much larger military aircraft to fly her between her home district and Washington, D.C., than prior Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) had used, "is something that will resonate with the American people" and promised that the network would "talk about this all day long." Less than 35 minutes later, NBC News correspondent Mike Viqueira reported that the "recommendation to Pelosi is that she have a plane that can get her to San Francisco nonstop," but that there is "no evidence" Pelosi had actually requested a "757" or a "C-32" as Republicans have reportedly alleged. Viqueira added that Pelosi said that, if she could not get a nonstop plane, she would "rather fly commercial ... without all the security."
posted on February 9, 2007 01:17:37 PM new
Pelosi Blames Plane-Gate on Sexism, Rummy
Posted by Mark Finkelstein on February 8, 2007 - 14:14.
How can Nancy Pelosi tell she's lost the Plane-Gate argument? When even MSNBC brands it "Air Pelosi."
But Pelosi has apparently decided to go down fighting. She's now playing the gender card, and for good measure has thrown in a soupçon of Rumsfeld-phobia. MSNBC just aired a clip of Speaker Pelosi making the following remarks on the issue of her request to the Pentagon for a large plane to transport her home:
"I don't even know the numbers of the planes. So this is something that is really very strange. That the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, which I have been a constant critic of the war in Iraq, and where I understand Mr. Rumsfeld still has a desk, even though he's no longer the Secretary, has decided that they would go public about a conversation on an issue that applied to the previous Speaker. Now, as a woman, as a woman Speaker of the House, I don't want any less opportunity than male speakers have had when they have served here."
In to discuss the matter with host Norah O'Donnell were Kelly Dingell, Dem strategist, and Cheri Jacobus, GOP strategist. Cheri actually offered some very sound advice to the Speaker:
"The biggest mistake that Nancy Pelosi can play right now is to try to play a victim. This business that this is happening to her because she's a woman is ridiculous. She's asked for a larger plane, she's asked for something more than what the previous Speaker had. It's ridiculous and naive of her to think that people aren't going to look at this and want to know why. She's talking about this ethical Congress, they're supposed to be big environmentalists. I think it's ridiculous for her to make this about her being a woman, and a huge mistake on her part."
Dingell and O'Donnell emphasized that Pelosi was seeking a plane that could fly her home to California non-stop. But as many readers have pointed out, that in no way justifies the need for the behemoth Pelosi has been seeking. There are any number of executive-sized jets with more than enough range to go California dreamin' -- non-stop.
When Dingell suggested there was good reason to suspect that someone "leaked" the story, Jacobus had a telling rebuttal: "I have a problem with the term 'leaked.' It shouldn't be a secret. Is it something [Pelosi] thought should have been kept secret?"
Precisely..
"When I talk to liberals, I don't expect them to understand my positions on various issues. I spend most of my time trying to help them understand their own." —Mike Adams
