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Originally posted by onetime2
Umm, it was done plenty by Clinton and just about every other politician so let's not go down that route.
I don't believe there are any rules to cover this situation. As such there is no clear cut answer. If the localities are concerned about it they need to pass local legislation that covers these situations for the future. I suspect (as noted in the article) that these requirements have been put in force in the wake of 9/11 and as such procedures for the handling of such costs have not been formally created.
For practical reasons Fortenberry should pay them to shut the story down. I think it's inappropriate to make the VP pay for them fully for the same reasons that the President does not pay full cost when he travels on Air Force One or anywhere else for personal reasons, the costs would be unbearable for just about anybody and these are security requirements necessary because of their public position.
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If we were in prosperous times and cities weren't facing financial bankruptcy, I could maybe see this. But I just think going on personal business and expecting the taxpayers to pay or the cities to pay is ridiculous.
You can't tell me Cheney couldn't come up with some "official" reason to be there.
As for the Clinton statement, perhaps he did. But did we ever hear of Gore doing this? Course during Gore's VP stretch I don't recall him doing much at all. Hell, he didn't even say much to deflect the problems Clinton was having. Was Gore ever on record about Lewinsky? Just a curious aside. Sorry thinking and typing only leads to rambling off topic.)