Crist Now: “I’m the most frugal cheap guy you’ll ever meet.”
Crist in 2008: “Crist enjoyed pricey perks on business trip to Europe thanks to taxpayers.”
Miami, FL – Governor Charlie Crist’s latest reinvention into a “frugal” spender was on full display in today’s National Review Online (NRO). Actually, that is partially true. By all accounts, he might be frugal when it’s his own money. But he is more than happy to spend the taxpayer’s dime on things like lavish European trips for himself and his entourage.
When he endorsed and campaigned for the $787 billion stimulus, Floridians saw firsthand how Charlie Crist’s personal frugality does not translate into fiscal restraint with taxpayer money.
But before that, Floridians saw it in Crist’s 2008 European junket, which came complete with a two-dozen person entourage, an official photographer to chronicle the governor at “work,” a $2,100 a night luxury suite in London, $1,300 in room service and mini bar charges for Crist alone, and first class airfare at $8,000 per ticket. Total cost? Over $430,000, with nearly $30,000 in personal expenses for Crist, picked up by special interest groups.
“Charlie Crist might be frugal when it comes to his own money, but he loves spending taxpayer money on a failed stimulus, on $2 billion worth of tax hikes, and on a luxurious lifestyle for himself and his buddies,” said Rubio for Senate spokesman Alex Burgos.
“Floridians are not going to take lectures on frugality from a guy who embraced the largest spending bill in American history, stays in $2,000 a night luxury hotel suites where he racks up $1,300 in mini bar charges, and doesn’t pay for a dime of it himself.”
“The record is clear,” added Burgos. “While Marco Rubio was fighting to eliminate property taxes in Florida, opposing Charlie Crist’s big government cap-and-trade energy tax plan, and saving taxpayers $30,000 in travel costs, Charlie Crist was gallivanting around Europe on a lavish junket. The hypocrisy coming from Charlie Crist these days is stunning.”
In his latest personal salvo against Marco Rubio, Crist tells NRO:
“… it is easy to see that he’s not conservative, but one of the most irresponsible spenders I’ve ever seen. He talks about how we need to spend less in Washington, but he sure seems to like spending other people’s money. … I’m a true-blue Reaganite Republican. … My opponent and I are polar opposites when it comes to who is really frugal. His statements are just unbelievable.” (“Crist: Rubio Campaign The ‘Greatest Fraud Perpetrated On People,” National Review Online, 3/4/10)
Crist’s remarks this morning build on his recent claim of being “the most frugal cheap guy you’ll ever meet.” (“Crist Assails Rubio’s Spending,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2/27/10)
FLASHBACK: European Trip For Crist, Entourage Cost $430K
Associated Press
Gov. Crist’s office says fostering overseas business is even more important when the economy is hurting.
12/7/2008
TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Charlie Crist took a pricey 12-day trip to Europe this summer, hitting taxpayers with a $430,000 bill amid a sagging economy, a newspaper reported.
Crist flew to London, Paris, St. Petersburg and Madrid to drum up business in July on a trip that was supposed to cost $255,000, but the tab came in much higher, the Sun Sentinel reported today.
Expenses included Crists’ entourage of more than two dozen, including a photographer and nine bodyguards, who alone spent more than $148,000 on meals, hotels, transportation and incidentals. The news comes as the state budget has a roughly $2 billion deficit.
Crists’ office says fostering overseas business is even more important when the economy is hurting and has been “instrumental in keeping our state from greater distress,” spokeswoman Erin Isaac said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press on Sunday.
State money was not used to pay for Crist’s roughly $30,000 in expenses. Business executives who went on the trip picked up that bill – which included a $2,179 a night London suite, where he conducted meetings.
First class tickets for about $8,000 round-trip, room service and minibar tabs of more than $1,300. And $320 on electric fans to keep him cool while giving speeches, the newspaper reported.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey, was also there on a crime-solving agreement with British police. He billed taxpayers $5,135 for less than 12 hours of official duties during four days, the newspaper reported.
He stayed an extra week at his own expense. His spokeswoman said he was on call around the clock and complied with state travel and vacation policies.
The company that organized the trip said the hotel costs were not extraordinary by European standards and that they negotiated rates wisely, but the weak dollar posed a challenge.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush used tax dollars to cover his costs on similar trade missions.
Crist’s office said the countries he visited combined have more than 900 companies in the state employing some 50,000 Floridians and have invested nearly $6 billion in our economy.
“These nations are strategic trading partners with Florida,” Isaac said in a statement.
Florida corporations made $5.5 million in sales and laid the groundwork for an additional $96 million in deals and 2,245 new high-tech jobs during the trip, according to Enterprise Florida, the company that arranged the trip.
A Spanish company also said it would negotiate to build a solar-energy plant in Florida during the trip. Other officials promised greater cooperation between Florida and European companies, universities and law enforcement.
Some political experts speculate Crist used the trip to bolster his image in foreign affairs. At the time, he was widely speculated to be a potential running mate for Sen. John McCain.
“This was a way of increasing his gravitas, his bona fides in foreign policy,” Florida political expert Robert Watson, director of American studies at Lynn University in Boca Raton. “Charlie can say that even though he’s governor, he’s met with all of these world leaders.”
Crist gave TV and newspaper interviews in London and repeatedly answered questions about whether he would be the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
About 65 Florida business executives accompanied Crist, including lobbyists and two people with ties to the sugar industry. At the time, the state was negotiating a $1.75 billion deal to purchase large tracts of sugar fields for Everglades restoration.
Crist’s fiancee, Carole Rome, and her sister also went along. The couple met Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace and Prince Charles at Clarence House and sipped cocktails with the British Foreign Office minister.
FLASHBACK: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist enjoyed pricey perks on business trip to Europe thanks to taxpayers
Orlando Sentinel
Commentary – Taking Names
By Scott Maxwell
12/10/2008
So how does one rack up a $430,000 travel bill?
It’s a valid question, since we’ve learned that Charlie Crist, his fiancée, his fiancée’s sister, nine bodyguards and several dozen of Charlie’s closest friends and business associates somehow managed to spend that much money this past summer on a European trade mission.
I’m beginning to think someone should’ve explained to Gov. Good Times that “free trade” didn’t mean all the expenses were on the house.
Sure, Charlie’s $30,000-plus bill was picked up by businesses, and others paid their own way. But taxpayers footed the bill for the state employees who went on this 12-day, high-class trip that hopscotched through Europe. And it seems like we deserve to know exactly what we bought and what perks our governor enjoyed in the name of “public service.”
Unfortunately, while state officials were good about turning over records, they didn’t have detailed receipt breakdowns for the crackerjack reporter at our sister paper, the (Fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel, who broke this week’s story. So I did a little checking of my own.
*Room service. Let’s start with Crist’s room-service and minibar bills. They totaled $1,300.
First of all, I’m thinking soon-to-be Mrs. Gov. Good Times was responsible for some of the drink bills. Because “minibar” receipts show someone (or some ones) in Crist’s room imbibed 14 times in Crist’s suite on the first day in London alone.
Still, you have to figure Charlie downed a couple of Red Bulls a day. They are, after all, Gov. Peppy’s caffeine-charged beverage of choice.
So I contacted The Westin Paris, where $1,385 a night not only gets you a lovely suite with a view of the Eiffel Tower but a staff of first-rate professionals willing to cater to your every whim.
And one of those first-rate professionals was kind enough to tell me how much the hotel charges for each bottle of Red Bull: 10 euros.
Oh, mon dieu!
At the current exchange rate, that’s more than $12 a pop.
If that was the case, Crist probably could’ve gotten a better deal by sending a member of his massive traveling entourage out to the French version of 7-Eleven (Sept-Onze?) and paying retail.
Which brings us to the next reason the trip tab was so high . . .
*Entourage envy. I obtained a list of those who traveled with Crist. It was six pages long.
