Biden Spends $1 Million Annually for Weekend Trips

Tighten your belts America… just don’t expect Team Obama or Washington to do the same…

Newsweek:

Ronald Kessler reporting from Washington, D.C. — Last June, President Obama appointed Vice President Joe Biden to root out wasteful government spending. But behind the scenes, it’s a different matter.

Every Friday, Biden takes a helicopter designated as Marine Two from the vice president’s residence to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and then hops on Air Force Two to fly back to his home in Delaware. At the end of the weekend, he returns on Air Force Two, usually a Boeing C-32.

Vice President Biden boards Air Force Two.
(AP Photo)

During warm weather, Biden regularly returns to Andrews on the airplane on Saturdays to play golf at the Air Force base with President Obama. After the golf game, he flies back to Delaware and returns to Washington on the plane on Sunday evening — all at taxpayer expense.

The cost of flying Air Force Two is $22,000 an hour, so each half-hour trip to or from Delaware costs about $10,000. Each golf game costs taxpayers $20,000. At that rate, the annual cost to taxpayers of Biden’s weekend trips is well over $1 million.

In addition, the Secret Service rents more than 20 condominiums in the Wilmington, Del. area for agents who must accompany Biden when he returns to his home state.

Biden’s press office had no immediate comment.

“Biden leaves every Friday from Joint Base Andrews, so he gets lifts from the observatory via Marine Two to Andrews Air Force Base, takes off via Air Force Two, lands in Delaware, and stays the weekend and then comes back on Sunday nights,” says a Secret Service agent familiar with the trips.

Biden has been a long-time proponent of train travel.
(AP Photo)

“Every three or four weeks when it’s warm, he gets up there on Saturday and then will fly back on Air Force Two,” the agent says. “While Air Force Two is sitting on the tarmac at Andrews, he goes and plays golf with the president at Andrews Air Force Base, gets back on the plane, and flies back to Delaware. Let me tell you something, that is egregious.”

Besides that, “The Secret Service rents condos in Wilmington because his schedule is so fluid and never concrete enough to properly prepare for his visits to Delaware,” the agent says. “So they keep a fully staffed Secret Service advance team in Delaware in condominiums that we lease so that when he does these things back and forth to D.C., they’re up there ready for him to arrive.”

The Boeing C-32 that usually flies as Air Force Two is a specially configured Boeing 757-200 commercial jet which typically requires a crew of 18.

As a U.S. senator, Biden was proud of the fact that he commuted daily by train from his home in Delaware to Washington during the week. Amtrak named the newly renovated Wilmington station the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Railroad Station. But after taking office as vice president, a Secret Service agent says Biden began the pattern of commuting on Air Force Two on weekends, costing taxpayers close to $4 million so far.

As recently as May 12, Biden flew back to Andrews to play golf with Obama and with Biden’s second son Hunter and White House trip director Marvin Nicholson. They played 18 holes of golf for four and a half hours.

Biden also plays golf at a country club he belongs to in the Wilmington area. The Secret Service agent says that since Air Force Two parks at Andrews, Obama is obviously aware that Biden is running up a huge government tab for each game of golf he plays with him.

Asked if President Obama thinks these costs are appropriate, why he has not questioned Biden flying to play golf with him at a cost of $20,000 per game, and in view of these costs of $1 million a year for weekend trips, whether the vice president should no longer be in charge of cutting government waste, the president’s press office had no immediate comment.

In addition to his salary as vice president of $230,700, Biden has free use of the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory. The vice president’s residence is a handsome 9,150-square-foot, three-story mansion overlooking Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington.

Complete with pool, pool house, and indoor gym, the white brick house was built in 1893 as the home of the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory. Congress turned it into the official residence of the vice president in 1974 and gave it the address One Observatory Circle.

During the day, at least five Navy stewards attend to every personal need of the second family, including cleaning, cooking, shopping for food, and doing the laundry.

Biden has portrayed himself as a regular Joe, a product of a working class family who takes on millionaires and Republicans who are said to be out of touch with middle-class Americans.

Last June 13, Obama placed Biden in charge of a Campaign to Cut Waste, which will “hunt down and eliminate misspent tax dollars in every agency and department across the federal government,” according to the White House website.

In an email, Biden told supporters that he was the “new sheriff in town.” He said that “particularly at a time when we’re facing tough decisions about reducing our deficit, it’s a no-brainer to stop spending taxpayer dollars on things that benefit nobody.”

By Ronald Kessler - chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. He is the New York Times bestselling author of books on the Secret Service - In the President's Secret Service, FBI - The Secrets of the FBI, and CIA - Inside the CIA.

The one thing you can bet on is that the Obama White House is not interested in sharing in your sacrifice!!  Make you mad?  It should!!  Remember this in November~

Technorati Tags: Joe Biden,White House,CIA,FBI,Secret Service,Air Force Two,national debt,stop spending,Obamaland,cut waste,wasteful spending

United States Budget Dilemma

Video:  United States Budget Dilemma

Tax loophole costs billions

 Loophole Video

Millions of illegal immigrants are getting a bigger tax refund than you. Eyewitness News shows a massive tax loophole that provides billions of dollars in tax credits to undocumented workers and, in many cases, people who have never stepped foot in the United States. And you are paying for it!

Note: This is part one in a two-part series. Read part two here.

INDIANAPOLIS - Inside his central Indiana office, a longtime tax consultant sits at his desk, shaking his head in disbelief.

"There is not a doubt in my mind there's huge fraud taking place here," he said, slowly flipping through the pages of a tax return.

The tax preparer does not want you to know his name for fear of reprisal, but he does want you to know about a nationwide problem with a huge price tag.

He came to 13 Investigates to blow the whistle.

"We're talking about a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme here that's taking place and no one is talking about it," he said.

The scheme involves illegal immigrants -- illegal immigrants who are filing tax returns.

How it works

The Internal Revenue Service says everyone who is employed in the United States – even those who are working here illegally – must report income and pay taxes. Of course, undocumented workers are not supposed to have a social security number. So for them to pay taxes, the IRS created what's called an ITIN, an individual taxpayer identification number. A 9-digit ITIN number issued by the IRS provides both resident and nonresident aliens with a unique identification number that allows them to file tax returns.

While that may have seemed like a good idea, it's now backfiring in a big way.

Each spring, at tax preparation offices all across the nation, many illegal immigrants are now eagerly filing tax returns to take advantage of a tax loophole, using their ITIN numbers to get huge refunds from the IRS.

The loophole is called the Additional Child Tax Credit. It's a fully-refundable credit of up to $1000 per child, and it's meant to help working families who have children living at home.

But 13 Investigates has found many undocumented workers are claiming the tax credit for kids who live in Mexico – lots of kids in Mexico.

"We've seen sometimes 10 or 12 dependents, most times nieces and nephews, on these tax forms," the whistleblower told Eyewitness News. "The more you put on there, the more you get back."

The whistleblower has thousands of examples, and he brought some of them to 13 Investigates. While identifying information such as names and addresses on the tax returns was redacted, it was still clear that the tax filers had received large tax refunds after claiming additional child tax credits for many dependents.

"Here's a return right here: we've got a $10,3000 refund for nine nieces and nephews," he said, pointing to the words "niece" and "nephew" listed on the tax forms nine separate times.

"We're getting an $11,000 refund on this tax return. There's seven nieces and nephews," he said, pointing to another set of documents. "I can bring out stacks and stacks. It's just so easy it's ridiculous."

20 kids = $30,000

WTHR spoke to several undocumented workers who confirmed it is easy.

They all agreed to talk with WTHR investigative reporter Bob Segall and a translator as long as WTHR agreed not to reveal their identity.

One of the workers, who was interviewed at his home in southern Indiana, admitted his address was used this year to file tax returns by four other undocumented workers who don't even live there. Those four workers claimed 20 children live inside the one residence and, as a result, the IRS sent the illegal immigrants tax refunds totaling $29,608.

13 Investigates saw only one little girl who lives at that address (a small mobile home). We wondered about the 20 kids claimed as tax deductions?

"They don't live here," said the undocumented worker. "The other kids are in their country of origin, which is Mexico."

He later explained none of the 20 children have ever visited the United States – let alone lived here.

So why should undocumented workers receive tax credits for children living in a foreign country, which is a violation of IRS tax rules?

"If the opportunity is there and they can give it to me, why not take advantage of it?" the worker said.

Other undocumented workers in Indiana told 13 Investigates the same thing. Their families are collecting tax refunds for children who do not live in this country. Several of the workers told WTHR they were told it was legal for them to claim the tax credit for a child who does not live in the United States.

IRS was repeatedly warned

"The magnitude of the problem has grown exponentially," said Russell George, the United States Department of Treasury's Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

And he says the IRS has known about the problem for years.

George has repeatedly warned the IRS that additional child tax credits are being abused by undocumented workers. In 2009, his office released an audit report that showed ITIN tax filers received about $1 billion in additional child tax credits. Last year, the inspector general released a new report showing the problem now costs American tax payers more than $4.2 billion.

"Keep in mind, we're talking $4 billion per year," he said. "It's very troubling."

What George finds even more troubling is the IRS has not taken action despite multiple warnings from the inspector general.

"Millions of people are seeking this tax credit who, we believe, are not entitled to it," said the inspector general. "We have made recommendations to [IRS] as to how they could address this, and they have not taken sufficient action in our view to solve the problem."

Other information obtained from the TIGTA audits include:

· Claims for additional child tax credits by ITIN filers have skyrocketed during the past decade, from $161 million in 2001 to $4.2 billion in tax year 2010.

· Undocumented workers filed 3.02 million tax returns in 2010. 72% of those returns (2.18 million) claimed the additional child tax credit.

· In 2010, the IRS owed undocumented workers more in claimed additional child tax credits than it collected from those workers in taxes.

Agency responds – sort of

What does the IRS have to say about all this?

The agency sent WTHR a statement, defending its policy of paying tax credits to illegal immigrants.

"The law has been clear for over a decade that eligibility for these credits does not depend on work authorization status or the type of taxpayer identification number used. Any suggestion that the IRS shouldn't be paying out these credits under current law to ITIN holders is simply incorrect. The IRS administers the law impartially and applies it as it is written," the statement said.

George disagrees with that position and believes the IRS should be doing more to prevent undocumented workers from getting billions in US tax dollars.

"The IRS is not doing something as simple as requesting sufficient documentation from people seeking this credit," he said. "Once the money goes out the door, it's nearly impossible for the IRS to get it back."

Over the past month, WTHR has tried to ask the IRS more questions about its efforts to prevent abuse involving additional child tax credits.

Despite repeated phone calls, e-mails and a visit to IRS headquarters in Washington, the agency said none of its 100,000 employees had time to meet with 13 Investigates for an interview. An IRS spokeswoman said all staff were too busy because of the tax filing deadline in mid-April.

Apparently, the IRS doesn't have time to respond to some tax preparers, either.

Last year, our whistleblower noticed dozens of undocumented workers had used phony documents and false income to claim tax credits. He reported all of it to the IRS.

"These were fraudulent, 100% fraudulent tax returns, but I got no response; absolutely none. We never heard a thing," he said. "To me, it's clear the IRS is letting this happen."

The IRS tells WTHR it can do nothing to change the current system unless it gets permission from Congress. In other words, according to the IRS, closing the loophole would require lawmakers to pass a new law specifically excluding illegal immigrants from claiming additional child tax credits.

The big questions now: Is Congress willing to do that?

What's next

Tomorrow night, 13 Investigates will show you how lawmakers are reacting to WTHR's investigation and what they plan to do about. You'll also hear why some undocumented workers say the credits are essential and should be left intact. Our investigation continues Friday night at 11:00.

Full statement to WTHR from the Internal Revenue Service

The law has been clear for over a decade that eligibility for these credits does not depend on work authorization status or the type of taxpayer identification number used. Any suggestion that the IRS shouldn't be paying out these credits under current law to ITIN holders is simply incorrect. The IRS administers the law impartially and applies it as it is written. If the law were changed, the IRS would change its programs accordingly. The IRS disagrees with TIGTA's recommendation on requiring additional documentation to verify child credit claims. As TIGTA acknowledges in this report, the IRS does not currently have the legal authority to verify and disallow the Child Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit during return processing simply because of the lack of documentation. The IRS has procedures in place specifically for the evaluation of questionable credit claims early in the processing stream and prior to issuance of a refund. The IRS continues to work to refine and improve our processes.

Obama creates "green jobs"--in other countries

President Obama's reckless Stimulus spent billions of our tax dollars to create "green jobs"--in foreign countries like Mexico, Finland, and China.

The American people deserve to know what's going on--and that our tax dollars are being wasted on handouts to other countries, instead of creating jobs for 13 million unemployed Americans.

With the DNC admitting to their top donors that this ad could cause "serious damage" to the Left's agenda, and President Obama dedicating yet another TV ad to attacking AFP activists, they're more desperate than ever to keep the truth hidden.

There's a reason this ad has the Left shaking in fear. And with your help today, we can make sure this ad stays on the air and reach as many Americans as possible. After viewing "Obama's Wasteful Spending," make sure to send your most generous donation in the form to your right to keep this ad on the air:

AFP  Wasteful Spending Ad Video

Thought For The Day - 9.13.08

"When people talk, listen completely.   Most people never listen."
…Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, writer and journalist

  You already know to listen. But do you truly know how — it’s the one skill that separates extraordinary friends from ordinary friends and exceptional employees from average employees. For listening isn’t simply done with your ears — it takes your eyes, your body language, your mind, and your heart. You see, great listeners absorb the other person’s thoughts and feelings and empathize with the person’s situation. Rather than simply hearing the words, you need to hear their purpose.

 Most people are too busy thinking about what they are going to say next, to really listen, really care or learn something.  

But as the old saying goes… “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.” 

Somebody might have told the rude crew ofThe View that…  When you are too busy talking yourself to hear or learn anything and too self-righteous or have so totally made up your mind to even let your guest finish a sentence… that you don’t need a guest on at all.  I guess they are confused and think talk show means:  only they talk… and only their views are allowed? 

And then there is Oprah… the talk show Queen who professes the empowerment of women but won’t even have Republican Vice Presidential Sarah Palin on her show?  

 I guess this tells us a lot about all these women! 

John McCain appeared on “The View.” (Photo: Steve Fenn/Reuters, via ABC)

Senator John McCain bounded onto the set of “The View” this morning, perhaps expecting a fun session chatting with the ladies about the softer side of his presidential campaign.

But once he settled onto the couch, he got a pretty good grilling — on earmarks, on his erstwhile image as a “maverick” and, of course, about his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin. He also defended his ads against Senator Barack Obama, saying “they are not lies,” and his wife, Cindy, who appeared later, declined to answer a question about how many houses the McCains own.

Mr. McCain also had some kind words for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who may have been the first choice for president among many viewers of “The View.” The show is watched by 3.4 million people, according to Nielsen, 78 percent of whom are women and whose median age is 56 years old.

A visit to “The View” is becoming a rite of passage for candidates as they try to shore up their appeal among women (Mr. McCain also taped a segment today for the Rachael Ray show.)

Anyway, Ms. Walters led off the questioning of Mr. McCain, and right away set the tone for the rest of the interview.

It was not the questions...  It was the lack of listening, the rudeness and what seemed like disinterest of the ladies of 'The View' in what McCain had to say!  They took turns asking questions and then rudely interrupting him before he could fully respond.

She first asked Mr. McCain to defend his earlier statement that Ms. Palin was “the greatest vice presidential candidate in the history of the United States.” Was he perhaps overlooking John Adams or George H.W. Bush?

“We politicians are never given to exaggeration,” Mr. McCain began with a smile, but then turned more serious. “The fact is,” he said, “I think she’s a great person, she’s a great governor, she’s the most popular governor in America, she understands the energy issues.” (That phrase about being the most popular governor refers to her approval ratings in Alaska, which have consistently been quite high, including a poll in July that put her approval rating at 80 percent.)

Ms. Walters also noted that Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin have said that her job will be to reform Washington. But, she pointed out, Mr. McCain has been in Congress for 22 years, the Republicans have been in the White House for eight years, so who, exactly, is Ms. Palin going to reform?

“The Democrats have been in charge of both houses for the last two years,” Mr. McCain replied.

Pressed, he added: “The Republicans, the Democrat party, even the independents. She’ll reform all of Washington.”

How?

“By doing what she did in Alaska.”

What, exactly?

“First of all, earmark spending, which she vetoed a half a billion dollars worth in the state of Alaska.”

But she also put earmarks in, Ms. Walters noted.

“Not as governor she didn’t,” Mr. McCain said.

But as governor, she did. As the Anchorage Daily News, among others, has reported, in Ms. Palin’s first year as governor, she requested 52 earmarks valued at $256 million, and this year, her office asked the Alaska delegation in Washington to help land 31 earmarks valued at $197 million. Also, Citizens Against Government Waste ranks Alaska as having received the “most pork per capita” of all states this year.

Barbara Walters with John and Cindy McCain. (Photo: Steve Fenn/Reuters, via ABC)

Mr. McCain went on to say that Ms. Palin was “a reform governor,” had taken on and beat the incumbent governor of her own party, “she sold the plane, she fired the chef.”

Ms. Walters noted that she sold the plane at a loss.

“You wanted her to keep it?” Mr. McCain asked.

“No,” said Ms. Walters, “I wanted her to get her money back.”

Mr. McCain said that Ms. Palin “freed Alaska for the first time,” saying she “took government out of the hands of the special interests and the oil companies and the old-boy network and gave it back to the people of Alaska” and “that’s what we have to do in Washington.”

But what exactly will she do?

“The same thing,” Mr. McCain replied. “Break the old-boy network, the special interests that control our agenda in Washington.”

After that exchange, Joy Behar lamented to Mr. McCain that he used to be more of a “maverick” but now he’s in “lockstep” with the Republican Party and President Bush’s policies.

“I don’t see the old John McCain that used to really buck the system as much,” she said, then kind of undercut her own question by adding, “and I understand why — you want to get elected.” The audience applauded and Mr. McCain smiled.

“I’m the same person, and I have the same principles, and I have the same issues,” he said. “I’m the same guy.”

Ms. Behar brought up two of his recent ads against Mr. Obama, one suggesting that when Mr. Obama had used a colloquial expression about putting “lipstick on a pig,” he was referring to Ms. Palin and the other suggesting that Mr. Obama wanted sex education for children. “We know those two ads are untrue, they’re lies,” she said, and yet at the end of each, Mr. McCain’s voice says he approves of those messages.

“They are not lies,” Mr. McCain said. “And if you’ve seen some of the ads that are running against me…”

The conversation broke off in cross-talk, and Mr. McCain then rejoined to say that Mr. Obama “chooses his words very carefully and he shouldn’t have said it.”

He added: “This is a tough campaign.” He also said that if Mr. Obama had agreed to go around the country with him and do town-hall meetings together, the campaign would have a more elevated tone.

On the topic of abortion, Mr. McCain said that Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973, was “a very bad decision.” He said he would not impose a litmus test on any of his nominations to the Supreme Court “because that’s not fair to the American people.” But, he said, he would nominate justices who would interpret the constitution as it was written and not legislate from the bench.

This prompted Whoopi Goldberg to worry that if he wanted to return to the constitution as it was written, and not as it was amended, she would be returned to slavery.

“I understand your point,” Mr. McCain said, as Ms. Goldberg theatrically fanned herself as if recovering from a big scare. “An excellent point.”

He then said that while he is “pro-life” because he believes that life begins at conception, “I also respect the views of those who don’t.”

That prompted Ms. Walters to ask, “So, you believe in choice?” but before he could answer, they all agreed to move on to other topics.

Shortly thereafter, Cindy McCain, the candidate’s wife, arrived on the set. She was asked if she agreed with Ms. Palin that there should be no exceptions for abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. (Ms. Palin has indicated that she would allow an exception only if the mother’s life were at stake.)

“We disagree on that issue,” Mrs. McCain said.

So, there are exceptions? “Yes,” Mrs. McCain said, adding, “John and I agree on this issue.” Mr. McCain has said he favors exceptions for rape and incest and to save the life of the mother.

Mr. McCain swooped in at this uncomfortable moment for his wife and said he would appoint all kinds of people to his administration, including Democrats. Asked if that included Mrs. Clinton, he took the opportunity to pay homage.

“I know that she wants to stay in the Senate, but I will work with Hillary Clinton because I’ve worked with her in the past, we’ve traveled together, Barbara, you know that, we have a working relationship that’s of mutual respect and frankly, appreciation,” he said. As she comes back to the Senate, he said, “she will be one of the most influential and powerful members of the Senate. You got to work together.”

This brought a big round of applause.

Then it was quickly back to the meat grinder, with Ms. Walters asking Mrs. McCain how many houses she owned.

Mrs. McCain didn’t answer that question.

“You know something, that’s not part of this campaign,” Mrs. McCain replied. “We’re fortunate enough to come from a family, particularly my dad and mom, who worked very hard to give me the best that they could and we are fortunate to be able to live a good life and share and give to other people who are not so fortunate.”

This too won a big round of applause.