Pelosi’s Hypocrisy

The following appeares onnypost.com, it shows Nancy Pelosi’s hypocrisy rather nicely:

AIR PELOSI

SPEAKER OPTS FOR WASTE AND ARROGANCE

By Richard Miniter

February 10, 2007 — THURSDAY morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped out of her Georgetown home and into a government-owned black Chevy Tahoe SUV. That gas-guzzler truck took her directly to the Rayburn House Office Building – where she was the lead witness at a Science and Technology Committee hearing on global warming.

This, the day after word broke of Pelosi’s request for regular use of a U.S. Air Force C-32 – the same plane that flies the vice president and first lady.

She wants to travel in luxury. The Air Force jet is the same size and airframe as the Boeing 757-200, which carries about 300 passengers. The C-32 boasts 42 business-class seats – plus a wood-paneled state room, big-screen TV, full-size bed and crew of 16, including uniformed stewards who bring drinks and meals on request. Oh, and an open bar.

Cost to taxpayers? Some $15,000 an hour.

A round-trip to Rep. Pelosi’s home in San Francisco could easily run $300,000. Meanwhile, the same flight on a commercial jet can run less than $300.

Pelosi campaigned on the promise that she would clean up the GOP’s waste and abuse of taxpayer’s dollars. So why doesn’t she use the little commuter jet that the Air Force lent to Dennis Hastert, the previous speaker?

She said it was “not big enough” to accommodate her staff, supporters and other members of the California delegation. Also, it would have to stop to refuel. “There’s a certain amount of inefficiency and risk involved in stopping and having to refuel,” a Pelosi spokesman said.

Pelosi doesn’t understand why the vice president and first lady rate a bigger plane than she does, when she is two heartbeats away from the presidency.

Maybe she just doesn’t want to fly like the rest of us, enduring long lines and security hassles. On Pelosi’s “Air Force Three,” there’ll be no waiting, no metal detectors, no searches – and the plane leaves when she says it does.