RNC, DNC Spend Thousands On Party Retreats
The RNC sent more than 30 staffers to a lavish resort in Waikiki for a semi-annual meeting in Jan., spending more than $80K on travel, hotel rooms, meals and meeting spaces, while the DNC spent $176K on a similar meeting in DC at a time when both parties' finances are suffering.
A total of at least 31 staffers and RNC officials made the trip to HI, including top members of the communications, research and political departments. In total, FEC reports show the party spent more than $79K in and around Honolulu, a figure that does not include airfare for staffers who traveled to the meeting.
FEC rules require the party committees to list how they spent their money, including listing the merchants who received payments. The committees spend tens of thousands a month on airfare, but they do not have to list destinations, meaning tickets from the mainland to Honolulu are not differentiated from other routine RNC travel -- meaning the total cost to the RNC was likely much higher than FEC reports will demonstrate.
RNC members, most of whom traveled to HI for the meeting, also had to shell out big bucks for their plane tickets, though none of those figures will appear in FEC reports. There are 168 members of the national committee.
Still, the reports do show the committee spent $24K on meeting space at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort and the Hale Koa Hotel. And 29 staffers were reimbursed for expenses made during their trip. RNC chair Michael Steele and executive director Ken McKay, both of whom attended the meeting, did not report receiving reimbursements for any expenses.
Meanwhile, DNC members arrived in DC a few days before a massive snowstorm brought the city to a halt in mid-Feb. The party spent $176K on catering for the weekend meeting at the Capitol Hilton, the new reports show. Pres. Obama visited DNC members, many of whom were stranded when DC-area airports shut down, for a pep rally.
A meeting of the DNC's finance committee in Jan. cost the DNC $30K, though Pres. Obama threw a fundraiser that likely netted the party hundreds of thousands of dollars. VP Joe Biden also addressed attendees.
This assumes that such trips are not of value. Often times getting face time in a different venue leads to huge benefits. That's why companies do them.
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