Ron Paul 2012: About Those First Class Flights...

Analysis

By Hao Li: Subscribe to Hao's RSS feed

January 16, 2012 6:35 PM EST

Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign is embroiled in another “scandal.” This time, it stems from an Associated Press report that stated Paul spent money on first class tickets for 31 round-trips and 12 one-way flights since May 2009.

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Paul was flying between Washington and his district in Texas.

This article became widely cited and the general tone is that Paul, a fiscal conservative, is hypocritical by spending taxpayer money to fly first class.

But is Paul really a big spender of taxpayer money?

Paul supporters like to point out that his House office runs a budget surplus and returns unspent office funds to the U.S. Treasury. These funds are then used to pay down the U.S. national debt.

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“Since my first year in Congress I have managed my office in a frugal manner, instructing staff to provide the greatest possible service to the people of the 14th District at the least possible cost to taxpayers,” stated Paul.

But how does Paul’s spending compare with other members of Congress?

I went to the Sunlight Foundation’s House Expenditure Reports Database and downloaded its report for the 2010 calendar year.

In that year, Paul spent $56,000 on travel expenses, which makes him the 178th biggest travel spender in Congress. In contrast, the top spender on travel, Don Young, R-Alaska, dropped $234,000.

As for overall spending (the Sunlight Foundation includes the categories of franked mail, personnel compensation, travel, rent, printing, supplies, equipment and other services), Paul shelled out $1.37 million, which places him 232nd.

This compares to the $1.66 million spent by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, R-Calif., the top overall spender for 2010.

Paul’s spending as a congressman, therefore, seems middle-of-the-pack – not scandalous – as some articles are implying.

Excel file of calculations embedded below:

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