Around the World -- On Your Dime

Spending on overseas travel for "congressional delegations" has risen 50% since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago. As the linked piece from The Wall Street Journal delicately notes, "taxpayer-funded travel is a big and growing perk for lawmakers and their families."

No one should object to lawmakers traveling when there is a real, pressing need to do so. But perhaps they would more carefully evaluate how much "need" there is if they themselves were paying part of the cost? Let's hear no more complaints about "tax breaks" and "giveaways" for hard-working businesses; these folks are enjoying plenty of government "giveaways" of their own.

When, exactly, do elected officials start deciding that they are entitled to live the high life, courtesy of the taxpayers? All of this reminds me of the behavior of Democrats in California, whom described in this piece as follows:

For politicians . . . , when the hardworking or productive keep more of what they have earned, it's only because politicians have been "giving away" the tax revenues that purportedly belong to them. In this mindset, meeting the "needs" of a greedy, ever-expanding government is the only imperative; taxpayers are nothing more than cash cows, commanded to provide the fodder that allows [politicians] to meet their "moral obligations" with other people's money.