Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is under fire for the expense of his weekend trips from Washington, DC to his home in California. They have totaled in excess of $800,000. Mr. Panetta is from California. His family lives there. And as Defense Secretary, is he required to travel on military jets where he has full access to military communications. He also kicks in money for the flights, commensurate with what he would pay for a seat on a commercial airline.
Mr. Panetta should be left alone, and his family in California should be thanked for loaning him to us in Washington during the week. This is no GSA scandal; this is the cost of doing business for one of the most important people in the country. It is a non-issue.
No. When ordinary mortals take a job, they either move with the entire family,or they make their own arrangements. If he can’t cope with living in DC, he shouldn’t have taken the job. Let him pay for his own weekends in California. It may not be the same as the GSA scandal, but it shows how out of touch DC’s ruling class is.