(Newser)
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Republicans think Barack Obama's trips on Air Force One amount to nothing less than fraud. RNC Chair Reince Priebus has sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office asking it to investigate Obama's recent travel, alleging that the events he's traveling to have been "widely reported to be equivalent to campaign rallies," and hence shouldn't be paid for by taxpayers, CNN reports. For evidence, he cites the states Obama has visited in April: Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio, battlegrounds all.
Campaigning presidents are required to reimburse the government for political travel at a commercial rate, which is already much cheaper than the $180,000-per-hour it actually costs to fly Air Force One. If the trips are semi-official—and the White House says these have been—the government chips in even more. A White House spokesman says Obama has an "official responsibility" to leave Washington and connect with the people (recent trips have involved meeting with students about interest rates on loans), and that he's following the rules.
