[Mb-civic] Waxman Seeks Cost of Bush Trips

[Michael Butler]

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    Waxman Seeks Cost of Bush Trips
    By Ann Imse
    Rocky Mountain News

    Friday 08 April 2005

    Allard joins chorus of Colorado officials opposed to ouster of trio from
speech.

    Spurred by the ouster of three Denver residents from a speech by
President Bush last month, a congressman is seeking a formal accounting of
the cost of Bush's Social Security trips.

    Rep. Henry Waxman, of California, the ranking Democrat on the House
Committee on Government Reform, also is questioning whether the White House
is using taxpayer funds for political purposes.

    "Informing the public is the president's responsibility; using taxpayer
resources to mount a sophisticated propaganda and lobbying campaign is an
abuse of the president's high office," Waxman said.

    Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Wayne Allard on Thursday became the seventh
member of the Colorado congressional delegation to say that people should
not be removed from a presidential event for a bumper sticker - as happened
March 21 in Denver.

    In that case, three people who had done nothing wrong said they were
ejected from a Social Security town hall meeting by a man who looked and
acted like a Secret Service agent.

    The Secret Service investigated the incident and reported that the man
was a Republican Party staffer. The agency told the three that the man
admitted removing them solely because they arrived in a car bearing a "No
more blood for oil" bumper sticker.

    The White House has said that the man removed them "out of concern they
might try to disrupt the event."

    In response to a query, Allard also said he disagreed with pulling
someone from a presidential appearance because of a belief he might disrupt
it.

    Allard has had 700 town hall meetings in his career and all have been
open to everyone, said his press secretary, Angela de Rocha.

    The Denver incident was one of a number of events cited by Waxman in a
letter asking the Government Accountability Office to calculate the cost of
the president's "60 Stops in 60 Days" Social Security campaign.

    Waxman said that expelling people with contrary views and promoting a
partisan agenda are "hallmarks of campaign events, not government-funded
political meetings."

    A student was barred from a similar event in Arizona for wearing a Young
Democrats T-shirt.

    In North Dakota, a list surfaced that banned 42 people from getting
tickets to another Bush speech in the campaign.

    White House spokesman Allen Abney has refused to provide the cost of the
Social Security trips, saying it is wrapped up in the annual presidential
travel budget.

    Taxpayers have paid more than $2 million just for the flights in the
Social Security campaign, which is a bit more than half over, according to
calculations made by The Washington Post.

    Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette and Mark Udall and Sen. Ken Salazar have
asked for investigations into the Denver incident.

    Taking Issue with Social Security Campaign

    * Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.: "Informing the public is the president's
responsibility; using taxpayer resources to mount a sophisticated propaganda
and lobbying campaign is an abuse of the president's high office."

    * Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo.: Seventh member of the Colorado
congressional delegation to say people should not be removed from a
presidential event for a bumper sticker- as happened March 21.