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Bush makes the most
of Air Force One

Question: As we all know, the president was flying around in Air Force One to campaign. Who pays for all those expenses connected with his campaign trips? I believe the trips are not, or should not, be official business of the government, and taxpayers should not foot the bill.

Answer: The president's campaign committee is supposed to pay for campaign-related expenses involving Air Force One, but it's not that cut and dried.

Critics say it's too easy for the president -- any president -- to coincide "official" trips with campaign trips and, thus, assign most of the costs to the job of leading the nation.

Under the rules of the Federal Elections Commission, the president is considered to be president all the time. So, the "government" bears the costs for protecting and transporting the president and his entourage, no matter what he's doing, including campaigning.

However, there is a formula by which the White House is supposed to calculate how much of any trip is "official" and how much should be charged to the campaign.

During the president's visit to Hawaii last year, the Star-Bulletin's Richard Borreca reported (Oct. 23, 2003) that, "When Bush travels on both business and politics, the cost of his travel is parceled out between government costs and campaign expenses. But the huge armada of security and communications equipment that travel with the president is not charged to the campaign."

The Associated Press reported in a June 1, 2004, article that as of that date, President Bush had logged 68,000 miles on the presidential plane and that he was using it for re-election activities more than any other president.

"Even when the White House deems a trip as political, the cost to Bush's campaign is minimal," AP reported. "In such instances the campaign must only pay the government the equivalent of a comparable first-class fare for each political traveler on each leg, Federal Election Commission guidelines say."

The Air Force estimates it costs $56,800 an hour to run Air Force One, so, according to AP, the few thousand dollars it cost the political campaign was "minuscule."

But while Bush was said to have made the most of his plane perk, presidents before him were not averse to also using it to their political advantage. President Clinton also was criticized for heavily using Air Force One for campaigning.

"Federal election laws set forth clear guidelines as to how costs should be incurred, and consistent with decades of past practices, we strictly adhere to those guidelines," the Bush White House told AP.

Auwe

To General Growth Properties, which manages Ala Moana Center, Windward Mall and Victoria Ward Centers, and the managers of Pearlridge Shopping Center, for not allowing Salvation Army bell ringers on their properties (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 26). Not allowing the bell ringers during the Christmas season is pretty bad. -- Nancy Bey Little

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