Crist and Palin: “Heck, it’s not our money!”Charlie Crist’s travel bill is starting to look a lot like the tab for Sarah Palin’s wardrobe — it ain’t pretty.
You might recall us telling you last July about how the Republican Florida governor and his newly-announced fiancee jetted off to Europe under the guise of a trade mission. We thought the trip a bit of an extravagance, what with news reports at the time that Florida’s budget shortfalls would likely be much worse than previously anticipated.
We didn’t know the half of it. The bill to Florida taxpayers for Crist’s entourage was officially announced at $255,000 back then. Crist’s own travel was supposedly underwritten by business interests, not Florida residents. Now, thanks to an investigation by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the invoice has been revealed to be closer to $430,000.
First, there’s who went on the 12-day spree: the governor, his fiancee, his fiancee’s sister (who is not a Florida resident), nine bodyguards, an official photographer, a spokesperson, and numerous lawyers, business people, and realtors. The Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell puts the list at six pages and 90-odd people. Maxwell also scrutinized the hotel bills.
First of all, I’m thinking soon-to-be Mrs. Gov. Good Times was responsible for some of the drink bills. Because “minibar” receipts show someone (or some ones) in Crist’s room imbibed 14 times in Crist’s suite on the three-day stay in London.
Maxwell also questioned the need for so many bodyguards.
The bodyguards alone, split up among the four countries, spent more than $148,000. And keep in mind: We’re talking relatively safe places such as London and Paris…where people go to celebrate their anniversary. One can only imagine the bills if Charlie had gone to Baghdad.
Everyone looking at this trip, from editors of the state’s major dailies to the usually clueless head of the Florida Democratic Party, can’t help but connect the dots between Crist’s campaign to be selected as John McCain’s running mate and this taxpayer-funded indulgence. The Miami Herald:
A photographer was invited because Mr. Crist apparently wanted a record of the junket for posterity. The timing of the trip may also have factored into the costs. Mr. Crist was being marketed as a possible vice presidential pick for Republican presidential nominee John McCain. If that were the case, Floridians can’t be blamed for raising questions.
I’ll go one further and wonder aloud about Charlie’s engagement to a woman whose husband was divorcing her in part because he was unable to support her in the style to which she felt entitled. Was Crist trying to make rumors that he is gay go away by marrying? And was this trip one of many former and future pay-backs from Charlie to his willing accomplice?
Everyone agrees it’s good for governors to try to drum up jobs overseas. The problem is that Crist made no discernible effort to exercise the slightest frugality — or even self-control.
It’s ironic that Crist is so like the woman who eventually got the slot he wanted. He and Palin both spend a little too much time in tanning beds, have never passed a mirror they didn’t like, and believe public service means the bill always goes to someone else.
