Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is locked in a runoff election that may end her political career, and revelations that she improperly used taxpayer dollars to fund 43 private jet flights to 136 political fundraisers and campaign functions won’t help her re-election bid. Now, a new TV ad hits the Senator hard on her misuse of tax dollars for campaign travel.
AFP is debuting the ad, called “Private,” alerting Louisiana voters to the taxpayer-funded luxuries Landrieu has enjoyed while flying private jets to take her to fundraisers and campaign events. The narrator in the ad asks, “If you want a senator who understands your struggle and represents your concerns, then ask yourself one question: when was the last time you flew private?”
“Mary Landrieu’s forty-three trips on the taxpayer dime epitomize the big-government lifestyle that comes with decades inside the Beltway,” AFP-Louisiana State Director Philip Joffrion said in a statement. “Landrieu doesn’t just sap our tax dollars to travel in style though; she votes to drain our incomes on all manner of wasteful spending, from ObamaCare to the stimulus bill. Voting with the Obama agenda 97 percent of the time doesn’t reflect the struggles and concerns of most Louisianans I know–and neither does jetting off to fundraisers in private planes.”
In September Landrieu performed an audit of her travel expenses, the results of which came out days after her self-imposed release date, showing that she inappropriately spent up to $33,700 in tax dollars during her re-election campaign.
It was a lapse that her GOP opponent, Bill Cassidy, called a “waste of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”
“Taking charter planes unnecessarily is a waste of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars. It makes no sense to fly on a $3,000 private jet if you can get to the same location in a few hours’ drive time and a $50 tank of gas,” Cassidy said in September. “Washington’s spending is out of control and this is one of the reasons why. Ensuring that Washington is transparent and tax dollars are spent wisely is a priority.”
Landrieu dismissed the spending as but a result of “sloppy book keeping.”
Americans For Prosperity is heavily engaged on the ground all over Louisiana in the effort to defeat Senator Landrieu with field staff and volunteers educating residents on Landrieu’s record and advocating for her time in the Senate to come to an end. The group intends to continue delivering that message over the next several weeks.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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