Travel Costs Up 50% Since Democrats Took Control of Congress

Americans are suffering from a recession and cutting back on costs. Meanwhile, Congress is taking lavish trips on your dime.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands.

The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago.

The cost of so-called congressional delegations, known among lawmakers as "codels," has risen nearly 70% since 2005, when an influence-peddling scandal led to a ban on travel funded by lobbyists, according to the data.

Here is a great picture and comment via Gateway Pundit:

From Gateway Pundit:

As Charlie Rangel demonstrates, spending all of your money and your children's money is exhausting work.