Sanford spent $44k in public funds for premium-class air travel

Mark Sanford, fiscal conservative:

A POLITICO analysis of hundreds of pages of state travel records requested to explore the circumstances of his affair found that in his 6 1/2 years as governor, Sanford traveled frequently and in a style markedly at odds with his political persona.

The records detail more than $468,000 worth of state-funded travel for Sanford and show that he routinely billed taxpayers for high-end airline seats, racking up more than $44,000 on business- and first-class tickets. He often stayed in pricey hotels that far exceeded the rates he imposed on other state employees.

On one overseas trip, the state appears to have spent more than $12,000 for the GOP governor’s business-class tickets for a September 2007 trade mission to China, while his aides flew in economy class for airfares as low as $1,900.

When it came to stimulus funds designed to help the unemployed get through the recession, Mark Sanford said no. When it came to using federal money to build better schools for impoverished children, Mark Sanford said no. When it came to helping people put food on the table as they struggle through these tough economic times, Mark Sanford said no.

But when it came to using taxpayer moneys to fly in the luxury of first-class, Mark Sanford finally said yes.

What a callous, selfish prick.