The congressional behavior noted in your articles "Congress's Travel Tab Swells" (page one, July 2) and "Lawmakers' Travel Reports Understate True Cost" (U.S. News, July 3) is truly disgusting to me and to millions of Americans, I'm sure. Many of our representatives in Congress are, at best, hypocrites and, at worst, clueless. While the economy is suffering, it is good to see that our congressmen carry on like nothing is wrong.
This should be stopped before it gets worse. Cut their $1 million administrative budgets in half, cut their salaries, allow voters to decide on future salary increases, limit terms, outlaw lobbyists and require all air travel to be on commercial airlines, citizen class.
Please publish on a quarterly basis a list of all congressional travel with names, destinations and email addresses. It is possible that we, who are paying their salaries, would like to get some travel tips on some of the exotic places they seem to "have to go." It was especially interesting to read about Rep. Bud Cramer, who after 18 years of service and with just two months left in Congress, just had to take care of business for two weeks in Europe on the public dole. Was he getting prepared for his lobbying job?
Doran Donovan
Amelia Island, Fla.
Are these the same lawmakers who demanded that bank and industry officers stop their outrageous spending of corporate money for personal travel and entertainment because their companies were in dire financial straits? Has our government recently paid off its massive debt and I didn't hear about it?
These politicians did promise change if elected, and it appears that they have fulfilled their promise by the recent tenfold increase in taxpayer-financed trips.
Lana Nusbaum
Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Is anyone really surprised? I, too, would fly to Paris and stay in lavish hotels if someone else were paying. Who wouldn't? Why do we continue to expect government officials to spend our tax dollars wisely when they have virtually no market incentive to spend prudently. Our trillion-dollar deficit attests well enough to that.
With no real motivation to spend our tax dollars sensibly, why do we increasingly desire to turn over the most fundamental aspects of society, such as education and health care, to government control?
Caitlin McLean
Raleigh, N.C.
Note from KBJ: The letters in today's New York Times were so stupid, pointless, or boring that I had to get some from the Wall Street Journal!
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 