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The Use Of Private Jets By Candidates Of Interest To Constituents
The Democratic politicians vying for the presidency were asked how they had traveled to the debate location. It was revealed that more than a few had arrived by private jet. This was more than concerning when taken into consideration that the debate was over global warming. However it isn’t only the environmentalists or the envious vacationers that are interested in politicians’ use of private jets.
Reports revealed that some campaigns have actually benefited from using private jets are much lower cost than the conventional method of chartering a plane.
The rules regarding elections permit the reimbursement to corporate jet owners by candidates for flights made.
The cost of travel is more important in this campaign over others since candidates began campaigning far earlier than seen in past elections. This has caused an increase in politicians traveling throughout the nation.
Due to the tendency of candidates to use the same jet repeatedly, it almost seems as if the candidates have a personal air chauffeur. Former senator John Edwards dished out over $430,000 during the first half of this year for the use of Fred Baron’s privately owned jet. Meanwhile Rudolph W. Giuliani paid over $175,000 within six months for leased jet flights from Elliot Asset Management.
Still more candidates have been employing the use of planes from a selection of businesses and executives. Republician Mitt Romney has accepted trips on the eBay jet as well the CEO of Oracle, Lawrence Ellison. The Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, has flown in jets owned by local businesses.
The reason for this boon in private jet travel is obvious, substantial savings on the part of the candidates. Chartering a midsized jet to travel from D.C. to New Hampshire could run close to $7,000 while a candidate could use a corporate jet and through reimbursement only spent about $700 per passenger on an 8 to 13-person flight.
Two prominent democratic candidates have resisted the temptation to take corporate jets, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They have both made the choice to spend much more money chartering their flights.
Republican Senator John McCain, of Arizona, started off his campaign by flying corporate jets but eventually had to forgo the luxury due to strained campaign finances. A spokesperson for the senator, Jell Hazelbaker reported, "Senator McCain had hoped that other candidates in the race would follow suit and pay the true cost of chartered planes. It’s regrettable, but moving forward we cannot continue at such an incredible financial disadvantage."
Financial disadvantage aside, the campaign for McCain paid out over $1.5 million on chartered flights for the first six months of 2007. This total is substantially higher than those of the candidates who elected to use corporate jets.
Critics of the system complain that lending private jets is one way businesses can continue supporting a candidate even after the maximum amount of money has been donated.
"It’s a way of gaining access and influence, a bonus on top of campaign contributions," stated Meredith McGehee, the director of policy at Campaign Legal Center, "It is a back-door subsidy that evades campaign contribution limits, but is done legally."
As a lawyer specializing in aviation for companies, Ed Kammerer reports that often, it is the other way around, "There is a lot of solicitation from candidates. I can tell you from my own experience that there are owners of planes who say that candidate XYZ wants to use my plane, and how can I delicately say no? I’d prefer not to, and I need something to hang my hat on."
To counter the criticisms, candidates point out the Federal Election Commission has ruled corporate jets allowable and the companies are not asking for any special favors in return.
Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, both of who only used chartered airplanes, are also the only two candidates protected by the Secret Service. This makes the group they travel with much larger. Both groups say this is the reason why bigger planes, and higher costs, are necessary for their campaigns.
Mr. Edwards still holds the record for most money spent though, at $430,000 for the use of a Hawker 800 owned by Mr. Baron. Baron is a lawyer who has stood up in large asbestos trials and is the former Association of American Trial Lawyers president. The spokesperson for the senator’s campaign, Eric Schultz told reporters that Mr. Baron was paid an amount equal to that of a first-class plane ticket for the use of his jet.
