Where is Congressman Bart Gordon?
February 20, 2009 by Truman Bean
Filed under Politics
An issue has arisen that voters in Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District should inquire and investigate. Has Congressman Bart Gordon gone on a luxurious European junket on the taxpayer’s expense, right smack in the midst of a employment waning recession?
Is Bart Gordon Travelling to Europe on Taxpayers’ Dime?
In these tough economic times many Middle Tennesseans are struggling to make ends meet. Layoffs, home foreclosures, bankruptcies, high electric bills, and high taxes make it hard for ends to meet. In this environment, I question why Bart Gordon apparently travelled to Europe this week at taxpayer’s expense. Is it a reward for voting the party line on the wasteful spending bill our President signed into law on Tuesday? Can we afford to pay for vacations for our elected officials?The article stated that ‘on Saturday, Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House delegation to NATO’s parliamentary assembly, and his wife will lead a delegation of 13 lawmakers — plus 10 spouses — on a fine nine-day jaunt starting at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels’. The same article identified our own Bart Gordon as one of the 13 lawmakers accompanying Tanner to Europe.If this is true, the question is: Why did Bart Gordon make this trip? And the follow up question is this: if Bart Gordon has made this trip, he’s stopping off in Brussels, Paris, and the Bavarian Alps. I’m wondering how many jobs Bart is finding for Middle Tennesseans while skiing down the Bavarian Alps?
Michael Patrick Leahy adds the following comments and questions to this story.
A series of volunteers have phoned Bart Gordon’s Washington D.C. office asking for simple confirmation of Gordon’s participation of the trip, and the hapless staffers responding to the questions have stonewalled their responses, saying they are not authorized to disclose where he is.
Such stonewalling, of course, plays right into Evans’ game plan of criticizing Gordon for being aloof and out of touch. Plus, we might add, there is probably some sort of Congressional or Federal rule, law, or regulation which requires a Congressman’s office to publicly disclose where he or she is when conducting official business at taxpayers’ expense.
Gordon’s website happily touts every speech or public appearance he makes in the district that promotes his own visibility. Oddly, no public statement has been forthcoming to date from his office even confirming whether he is or is not currently in Europe on “taxpayer funded business.”
Evans is playing it smart by asking for a public statement from Gordon that addresses two issues:
1. Is he travelling to Europe now at taxpayers’ expense ?
2. If he is in Europe, what possible justification does he have for wasting taxpayers’ money to fly him over there and pay for his meals and lodging ?
About Truman
Jim Smith on Sat, 21st Feb 2009 11:09 am
All good points, the senator should answer those questions as long as answering them would not jeopardize security. I actually only wanted to point out that, since an excerpt for this entry is on the front page of the site, you might consider adding an “h” in your introduction. Right about where it says “An issue as arisen”. I assumed you meant to include one and it slipped past the spell checker. I know, I know, grammar nazi, right? It’s just that I see all the snide, sneering remarks from liberals about the tiniest irrelevant matters, so I figure this is one thing that can be prevented from giving them ammunition. Good post, and my comment is intended to be noncritical, regardless of its reception.
Thanks,
Jim(my) Smith
Truman Bean on Sat, 21st Feb 2009 9:54 pm
Thanks Jim for your grammer catch.
Now corrected. Keep up your comments and feedback.