Mark Sanford in Another Hypocritical Shocker

Color me surprised.  Mark Sanford has been shown to be even more of a hypocrite than he already proved to be by heading to Argentina to be with his mistress.  (I even felt some sympathy for him, too; he genuinely seemed to be in love with her.  How could I not appreciate that, even while feeling incredibly bad for his wife and sons?)

This time The Politico has researched Sanford’s travel records during his time as governor of South Carolina.  His travel records show that he has travelled quite well, flying business class and first class on the taxpayer’s dime.  I honestly don’t begrudge a high-profile politician travelling in business or first class and staying in pricey hotels.  (He took trips to China on a trade mission and Munich.)  But Sanford is the guy who famously slept on a cot in his office during the time he was in Congress and has his staffers use both sides of sticky notes.

Aside from the damage done to his standing as a social conservative, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s recent admission of an extramarital affair may end up tarnishing another of his political credentials — his carefully honed reputation as a tightfisted steward of taxpayer money.

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.

[snip]

Still, the picture that emerges from the records conflicts with Sanford’s image as a politician who is especially stingy with taxpayer cash and vigilant about the costs of taxpayer-funded travel.

After winning a seat in Congress in 1994, he publicly agonized over accepting a $10,000-taxpayer-funded trip, telling a local paper, “I know politically it’s not the right thing ever to go on any trip.”

While running for governor in 2002, Sanford zeroed in on travel spending, criticizing Democratic incumbent Gov. Jim Hodges for “lavish spending” on airfare and hotel rooms.

“If I become your governor,” he asserted in a radio ad, “I’ll fix that problem in Columbia.”

Indeed, in his first year as South Carolina’s chief executive, Sanford moved quickly to implement his campaign promise by urging state employees to sleep two to a hotel room while traveling on state business.

Later, he called out an unnamed state employee for staying in a New York hotel for $269 per night — which he pointed out at the time was $61 above the federal rate — and a state consultant for billing the state $375 a night for a three-night stay in a Phoenix hotel to attend a conference. 

His 2008-2009 budget proposal again targeted taxpayer-funded travel and projected $2.8 million in savings by reducing the travel costs across state agencies. A summary from his office states “it is clear that some [agencies] have not used taxpayer dollars in the most efficient manner possible.”

Yet records of the state-funded trips taken by Sanford as governor suggest that his arrangements often ran counter to the state Budget and Control Board’s travel expense guidelines.

Those guidelines dictate that “travel by commercial airlines will be accomplished in coach or tourist class, except where exigencies require otherwise.”

But on the now-infamous June 2008 South America trade mission, where Sanford slipped away to meet his Argentine mistress, the governor’s airfare consisted of four business-class flights for which the state paid $8,687.

By contrast, the Commerce Department official who accompanied Sanford to Buenos Aires flew coach, at a cost of $1,910 to the taxpayers (the official’s itinerary included one less short leg, since he did not accompany Sanford to Cordoba, Argentina, for a day of dove hunting).

[snip]

Among a group of Republicans who called for Sanford to step down after he admitted to the extramarital affair, Martin predicted Sanford’s supporters were “going to be very disgusted to learn that he’s been somewhat of a big spender when it comes to his own personal travel while at the same time insisting that state government be on a starvation diet.”

That’s really the problem.  Sanford orders his state employees to be extremely careful with taxpayer money — which is a laudable thing to do — but then he turns around and spends buckets of taxpayer money on his travel.  Two-faced, to say the least. 

Perhaps this is all normal for any governor’s travel.  But Sanford professed to be different.  He supposedly slept on a cot in is congressional office to save taxpayer money.  He put policies in place as governor to specifically target and minimize taxpayer-funded travel.  And then he went and spent loads on his own travel.  He had to know that these are public records and that it could come out.  But, like his extra-marital affair, he assumed that it would all stay quiet.

If I were a citizen of South Carolina, I’d insist that Sanford resign.  He’s shown himself to be unfit for any elected office.