Republicans Want to Implement “Nuclear Option” for Judicial Nominations

Denver, CO- Last Monday three Colorado taxpayers were tossed out of President Bush’s faux town hall meeting.  The “Denver Three”, as they are being labeled have taken their complaint to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

“Colorado taxpayers should be angry at the fact that they have to pay for these types of Presidential trips yet are not welcome to attend the events,” said Pat Waak, Colorado Democratic Party Chair. 

In 1982, accounting guidelines that the White House uses to track the costs for these events established that there is no requirement for the White House to itemize or divulge the tax dollar amount for Presidential travel.

Recent analysis on the cost for these types of presidential trips has revealed an astonishing price tag for each trip.  The average cost for the President, White House staff, secret service members and other special guests to fly from Washington DC to Denver on Air Force One is  $57,000.00 per hour.  Since the flight is roughly four hours the price for a one-way trip is $228,000.00.  Taxpayers pick up this cost when the travel is deemed political business.  For this particular trip President Bush traveled from Washington DC to a couple other states before landing in Denver.

The cost to taxpayers for President Bush’s event also included overtime for extra police, hotel rooms for the advance team, secret service and local escorted transportation.  The Denver Police Department has not released the total cost to the city for Bush’s visit on Monday.  Regardless, taxpayers pay a large part of the bill for all Presidential visits.

Since Reagan presidents have been able to use tax dollars to travel throughout the country with very little oversight.  In most cases the events are justified and relatively open to the public.

“In the case of last Monday’s staged town hall meeting general taxpayers were not welcome despite the fact that their tax dollars paid for the meeting,” said Joelle Martinez, Colorado Democratic Party Communications Director.  “If President Bush wants to discuss the future of our Social Security, we should be allowed to attend and voice our concerns.  That is how democracy is supposed to work.”