Tom Price Missed a Meeting Because of a Flight Delay Once

The Gulfstream G280 is an aircraft so powerful and aerodynamic it redefines the performance and capabilities of super-midsize business aircraft. According to Gulfstream, anyway. It's also perfect for busy cabinet officials.Russian Look via ZUMA

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Why does HHS Secretary Tom Price charter private flights for his official travel? The Washington Post has the story:

After Tom Price was sworn in as health and human services secretary, the Georgia Republican faced an inconvenience known to millions of Americans: His flight was delayed, an aide said, and he was forced to spend hours at an airport. The delay left Price a no-show at an early public appearance his office helped plan.

A flight delay!?! Color me convinced! In fact, I recommend that the federal government purchase a fleet of planes especially for use by cabinet secretaries. They are far too important to be subject to the indignity of mingling with the little people and suffering the vagaries of commercial airline travel.

Don’t worry, though. The next time a Democrat takes office we can sell off the fleet, since it would then be an obvious waste of money by Beltway elites who care nothing about how they spend the hard-earned money of honest taxpayers.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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