Defense secretary and former congressman Leon Panetta may work at the Pentagon most weekdays, but that doesn’t keep him from commuting home to the Monterey Peninsula most weekends—
on the taxpayers’ tab, of course. The cost?: $32,000 per round-trip, says the Huffington Post, which quotes Panetta explaining/defending/lamenting it as if his extravagant cross country commute were . . . a necessity? Here’s an excerpt, rambling quote included:
"I regret that it does, you know, that it does add costs that the taxpayer has to pick up," Panetta said during a Pentagon briefing Monday, speaking publicly for the first time about the flight costs. "A taxpayer would have to pick up those costs with any secretary of state or secretary of defense. But having said that, I am trying to look at what are ... the alternatives here that I can look at that might possibly be able to save funds and, at the same time, be able to fulfill my responsibilities, not only to my job, but to my family."
Politics
Defense secretary and former congressman Leon Panetta may work at the Pentagon most weekdays, but that doesn’t keep him from commuting home to the Monterey Peninsula most weekends—on the taxpayers’ tab, of course. The cost?: $32,000 per round-trip, says the Huffington Post, which quotes Panetta explaining/defending/lamenting it as if his extravagant cross country commute were . . . a necessity? Here’s an excerpt, rambling quote included:
