Mark Sanford Traveled In Style With State Funds

Politico did some digging and the results reveal a Governor that is even more at odds with his public persona. Not only that, he definitely used taxpayer funds to go visit his mistress.

Folks, I don’t really care that much that Mark Sanford had an affair because that’s ultimately between him and his wife. But to violate the trust of his constituents and waste their money to fly down to Argentina to do it? Well, that’s pretty low.

The details…

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.

On one overseas trip, the state appears to have spent more than $12,000 for the GOP governor’s business-class tickets for a September 2007 trade mission to China, while his aides flew in economy class for airfares as low as $1,900.

So why is this a big deal? Well, because when he ran for Governor he criticized his opponent for doing the exact same thing…

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.”

Here’s the question: Will this be the thing that brings Sanford down or will he stick around?

(Photo: AP via Daylife)