The general fund of New York will take that money in hundreds and fifties, or a check will suffice, but that money is owed to us Governor. When you talk a great game of dire budget deficits, shared sacrifice for all* and the need for fiscal responsibility, billing taxpayers for your trip to Obama's inauguration is absolutely obscene.
From The Poughkeepsie Journal:
ALBANY - Gov. David Paterson and three aides billed New York taxpayers $19,350 for their four-night stay at an upscale Washington hotel for the presidential inauguration, despite the governor's repeated warnings about the state's fiscal troubles.Paterson and three top aides stayed at the luxury AKA White House hotel two blocks from the White House during the inauguration, with the governor billing taxpayers an average of $1,280 a night, according to records of state-issued credit-card expenses.
In total, taxpayers were charged about $4,800 a night for the hotel stays of Paterson, chief of staff Charlotte Hitchcock, special assistant David Johnson and secretary William Cunningham, records obtained from the state Comptroller's Office show. Paterson's bill was $5,123 for the four nights.
So do you think the Governor apologized for this trip he took on our dime, without asking permission? Nope, try again:
Paterson's office defended the spending, saying hotels for the inauguration required a four-night minimum stay and prices were inflated because of the event.
The charges were billed in December in advance of the Jan. 20 inauguration. The governor's office did not provide details on other expenses incurred on the trip.
"Governor Paterson, like many other governors from across the country, represented his state at a moment of national importance," spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein said.
I'm sure there are plenty of hotels he could have stayed at that didn't cost $19,350 for four days. He certainly did not have to go with three other taxpayer-funded officials with their own $1,000+ per night rooms. When you ask your constituents to go without essential programs, with additional taxes and fees on the middle class, do not stay at a luxurious hotel two blocks from the White House at our expense. "Tasteless" and "insulting" only begins to describe this action by Mr. Paterson.
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