Cause, on 09 October 2017 - 01:51 PM, said:
worry, on 08 October 2017 - 10:09 PM, said:
If that's not American conservatism in a nutshell...
Id agree that's its a stunt. No question. However I do always wonder about these figures. The secret service gets paid regardless where they are. I imagine the airforce pilots of his plane etc are on standby all day regardless of whether they fly him anywhere or not. So while the fuel was used and has to be paid for the rest of the expenses are spent regardless. The secret service would still have to pay for overtime and travel allowances I guess. So its not that I am not agreeing that it was an expensive PR stunt I just wonder what the true cost was.
During the Libya thing a few years back I remember reading figures of how much it cost the USA to keep a carrier in the theatre. I remember thinking then that the figures made no sense. They included the pay of all the sailors etc and I just remember thinking then that sailors get paid in peacetime too. So journalists sometimes twist the numbers to hammer home the point.
When a President or Vice President travel yes they have SS but they also have a shit ton of local police. Roads have to be shut down. Local Police have to pay for overtime. Business in bad locals sometimes have to close. Swat has to take up positions along any stops that the VP makes. All of that costs a lot of money. Money that is not normally spent. Sure there is swelling but it is still a lot.
For the Carrier. You are correct soldiers get paid regardless. But if they are put on active (combat duty) then their pay gets bumped up to combat pay which is quite a bit higher then regular pay. When ships are in combat readiness it is burning a lot more fuel. Costs a lot more money. Planes are running combat missions are using more fuel then simple scouting missions. Because they are running with a full missile load which weighs more and so costs a lot more. Those things add up fast. Sure there is padding but not as much as you might think. The military accounts for the money they spend and when. Now that figure might be inflated but that is the figure that is being used. So if it is inflated then it is inflated by the military not necessarily by the press.