Mike Pence Spent Nearly $250K to Walk Out of a Football Game

[Goober McTuber]

In recent weeks, between provoking North Korea and congratulating himself for a job well done in Puerto Rico, Donald Trump has used his Twitter account to focus on another issue of grave national importance: feuding with the N.F.L. In all, the president has tweeted no less than 27 times about football players protesting racial inequality by kneeling during the national anthem (with some of those tweets calling for them to be fired and all of them expressing outrage typically reserved for Nazis). And, because he indisputably stands behind the president, no matter what rumors may suggest, V.P. Mike Pence got in on the action Sunday, executing one of the most transparently obvious political stunts in recent memory.

On Trump’s orders, Pence walked out of an Indianapolis Colts game against the San Fransisco 49ers—the former team of blacklisted quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose members have been taking the knee for more than a year now—when several players knelt during the anthem. In case you didn’t see this coming from several miles away, The New York Times notes that a member of Pence’s staff told the pool reporter traveling with him not to enter the stadium because there was a chance the V.P. would make an early departure. And of course, no stunt would be complete without a breathless (and definitely not pre-meditated) Twitter statement.


[tweet] Vice President Pence
‎@VP

I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.

12:08 PM - Oct 8, 2017 [/tweet]


One thing Pence failed to mention was the cost of flying from Las Vegas to Indianapolis and then back west to Los Angeles, a tab CNN puts at $242,500—roughly $200k more than if he’d simply flown from Vegas to L.A. In a statement, a Pence aide defended the side trip: “If the Vice President did not go to Indiana for the Colts game, he would have flown back to D.C. for the evening—which means flying directly over Indiana. Instead, he made a shorter trip to Indiana for a game that was on his schedule for several weeks.”

Pence also hasn’t responded to critics who’ve noted that, in the run-up to the anthem, the photo he posted of himself and mother really looking super excited about the game and not at all planning to leave early was actually from a Colts game in 2014. Nor has he explained the immediate and simultaneous rollout of a photo of him with his hand over his heart on his Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

Naturally, the president lost no time in broadcasting his support, claiming this morning that his No. 2 is receiving “great praise” for the stunt.


[tweet] Donald J. Trump
‎@realDonaldTrump

I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen.

1:16 PM - Oct 8, 2017 [/tweet]


Shockingly, he seemed to have no qualms about the vice president using the U.S. flag and anthem as props in a premeditated (and taxpayer-funded) political protest against a...political protest.

[Sirfindafold]

Wait. what? A limp-wristed liberal concerned about government spending?

[Goober McTuber]

I'm a ham-handed Libertarian, you slack-jawed halfwit. Nothing wrong in government spending per se. This is wasteful government spending. Good government spending would have been funding an abortion for your fat ugly mother.

[Diego in Seattle]

Pence stunt summed up:

[Innocent Bystander]

Pence's office apparently put out a press release before the game that he'd have to leave to make a fund-raiser?

Then the press pool is forbidden to leave because they were told to be ready for an 'event' from the vice president?

I think the worst part isn't the waste of taxpayer money (though that's a very close second), it's Pence's willingness to not have a mind of his own. Trump says jump, Pence doesn't even ask how high, he just does it. There's apparently a couple memes out there about Pence being a cuck(old) that date from before the election. What if he really is a spineless jellyfish?

[Smackie Chan]

What if he really is a spineless jellyfish?

If he was anything but, he wouldn't have been selected as running mate.

[Innocent Bystander]

Pence stunt summed up:

I don't like those .gifs. They just make me think of Van's spinal cord issues. The roads are getting dangerous again, everyone ride safely.

[Bucmonkey]

Wait. what? A limp-wristed liberal concerned about government spending?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

...Pence walked out of an Indianapolis Colts game against the San Fransisco 49ers

As would most football fans who don't hate themselves.

[smackaholic]

I am happy to see Goobs is disgusted by this frivolous pissing away of tax dollars. Don't recall hearing any of it during Barry's tenure and there was plenty of it.

My personal take is, guess what assholes, we are 20+ trillion in the hole. We are cutting up your travel credit card. I think they should spend way more time in DC, in very nice digs we paid for, doing their fukking jobs.

[Softball Bat]

A political stunt.

I'd guess around 27% of the voting populace thought it was great.

Many of those folks were probably VERY excited about it.





#Lame

[BSmack]

Pence stunt summed up:

Excellent shot of Charger Mike in action.

[Goober McTuber]

Obama. Obama. Obama.

Brilliant.

[Softball Bat]

haha!

[Innocent Bystander]

I thought it was pretty stupid.

Then again: When the Obamas visited Northern Ireland in 2013, Michelle Obama took her daughters on a two-day, side-trip to Dublin. That side-trip alone cost U.S. taxpayers a quarter-million dollars, including a $3,300-a-night hotel suite of the sort Mrs. Obama prefers. The Obamas' Ireland trip set us back just under $8 million.

http://www.investors.com/politics/colum ... -expenses/

Was that any better?

That was two days to show the girls their slave-owning side, and it poured money into the local economy.

Pence should have just went straight to the fundraiser -- or stood resolutely for the flag and watched the game instead of sending out 3 year old pics after being their 10 minutes.

Then there's Melania and Barron holed up in NYC instead of DC, and our Secret Service going bankrupt. Yes, Pence wasted money for an empty gesture which was much more disrespectful to the cult of the flag and those who fought for it.

[Diego in Seattle]

Well, at least Trump didn't try to fundraise off the murder of 58 people.

Oh, wait....

[Moving Sale]

Why to shit on Patton Manning you stupid POS.

[Goober McTuber]

Obama. Obama. Obama.

Brilliant.

If you were an actual Libertarian, you would have said "Yeah - both are fucking stupid." You didn't, you can't, you won't, and you're a Labiaeral.

And if you had half a brain, you wouldn't answer every post about this administration with "Obama, Obama, Obama."

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

You tards have the White House and both chambers of Congress. Time to stop obsessing over Obama and NFL players and get something done.

[Left Seater]

You tards have the White House and both chambers of Congress. Time to stop obsessing over Obama and NFL players and get something done.

Actually the less Congress does the better off we all are for the most part. Here's hoping they pass some sort of tax reform. If they do nothing else, so be it.

[Goober McTuber]

And if you had half a brain, you wouldn't answer every post about this administration with "Obama, Obama, Obama."

He's one of the most dishonest chunks of shit on the planet, but don't let that get in the way of you being his cute little cheerleader.

I'm not cheering him. You need to stop using Obama to deflect criticisms of our Chucklehead in Chief.

[Goober McTuber]

You tards have the White House and both chambers of Congress. Time to stop obsessing over Obama and NFL players and get something done.

Actually the less Congress does the better off we all are for the most part. Here's hoping they pass some sort of tax reform. If they do nothing else, so be it.

As long as it doesn't include tax cuts, I'm all for it.

[Screw_Michigan]

Here's hoping they pass some sort of tax reform.

I laffed

[Diego in Seattle]

The only thing Congress should do is either impeach tRump & Pence, or invoke the 25th Amendment.

[Sirfindafold]

As long as it doesn't include tax cuts, I'm all for it.

Spoken like a true POS limp-wristed liberal.

[Diego in Seattle]

I'm ready for tax cuts, tired of paying +90k a year every year in income taxes while others pay less, some pay zero


How about flat amounts, not rates but amounts

15k a person in the household

Single person, no kids, 15k a year
family of 5, 75k a year.
Thats fair

Minimum wage in CA is 10.50.
An hourly wage of $12.00/hr would equal an annual salary of $24,960 (before taxes)

Avg apt in LA (according to myapartmentmap.com) is 1949/mo.
That's 23,388/yr

That's mighty white of you, schmuck!

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

I'm ready for tax cuts, tired of paying +90k a year every year in income taxes while others pay less, some pay zero


How about flat amounts, not rates but amounts

15k a person in the household

Single person, no kids, 15k a year
family of 5, 75k a year.
Thats fair

You want to tax working people out of having kids?

[Moving Sale]

"All of a sudden, it's become a big deal now, about oppression," Ditka said, during a radio interview with Jim Gray prior to Monday night's game between the Bears and Minnesota Vikings. "There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of. Now maybe I'm not watching it as carefully as other people. I think the opportunity is there for everybody. ... If you want to work, if you want to try, if you want to put effort into yourself, I think you can accomplish anything."

More like 150, and was slavery even really oppression they got three hots and a cot afterall.

Sin,
Holic-Mvspedokkkal and the .net posse

[bigredretard]

Pence stunt summed up:

Coming from a wetback in Seattle I am not shocked.

[Softball Bat]

You tards have the White House and both chambers of Congress. Time to stop obsessing over Obama and NFL players and get something done.

Bingo.

[Goober McTuber]

As long as it doesn't include tax cuts, I'm all for it.

Spoken like a true POS limp-wristed liberal.

Spoken like a true pee-on-my-head-and-call-it-trickle-down republitard.

[Screw_Michigan]

Trump is the opposite of a leader, he's a divider, so no surprise he will never accomplish any meaningful legislative success with his oh let's call it tangential approach to politics. The only thing Trump and his cabal will do is wage culture wars because they can't accomplish anything else.

Fuck each and every one of you.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

The only thing Trump and his cabal will do is wage culture wars...

As opposed to Hilary's actual wars...


...errr....


...humanitarian interventions.

R2P

Quick! Putin was mean to trannies! Cruise missile strikes NOW!

[Left Seater]

You tards have the White House and both chambers of Congress. Time to stop obsessing over Obama and NFL players and get something done.

Actually the less Congress does the better off we all are for the most part. Here's hoping they pass some sort of tax reform. If they do nothing else, so be it.

As long as it doesn't include tax cuts, I'm all for it.

It needs to be simplified and most deductions need to be removed. Then the rates need to come down.

First on the list of deductions to go:

State Taxes
Municipal Taxes
Sales Taxes
Property Taxes
Mortgage Interest

Just because you paid taxes to other government entities that shouldn't lower your Federal taxes.

After that we should remove ALL other deductions, except for potentially education expenses/interest.

We then remove all taxes on earned interest, investment income, and inheritance. The initial money already had taxes paid on it. Why should anyone especially those who are first investing and saving have to pay tax on the growth of that money?

Then you start lowering the tax rates. Once you have removed the deductions the rates should immediately come down. Also everyone should pay a minimum amount. For the lowest income earners this might be just $50 a year, but everyone should pay something. The top tax rate shouldn't be anything more than 15%-18%. With all the deductions removed this should be plenty. Heck even companies like Apple and Google might invest more of their overseas earnings here in the US rather than keeping them in Ireland or the Bahamas.

[Moving Sale]

What do you mean "no end in sight?" The orangepedobear is on the job. The swamp is drained. The wall is built. Obamacare has been repealed and replaced. All the mexicans and muslims are gone. In a few days the national debt will be paid. America is great again and all we are doing from here on out is win win win.

[Moving Sale]

What do you mean "no end in sight?" The orangepedobear is on the job. The swamp is drained. The wall is built. Obamacare has been repealed and replaced. All the mexicans and muslims are gone. In a few days the national debt will be paid. America is great again and all we are doing from here on out is win win win.

You give orangepedobear too much credit. He could not win against your entrenched slimes, even if he was a noble, principled individual (which he is not). At best, he can throw some sand in the gears of the swamp rat machine for a term or two. Your corrupt champions will get their hands back on the reins again soon. Happy times for everyone then, right?

Just another lie. There is not one politician of note in any office in state or National gov that I voted for. You on the other hand voted for a carnival barker that doesn't have the sense god gave a turnip.

[Moving Sale]

So first it's my fault for voting for the scum we have in gov and now I'm responsible for them even though I didn't vote for them. No dumbass. This is on YOU. You voted for corruption and megalomania in one pull of the lever.

[Left Seater]

No doubt spending has to change as well.

The solution is quite simple yet almost impossible due to idiots in Congress on both sides. Cut spending by 20% across the board and freeze spending at that level until the debt is paid. No dept or line item is exempt. Assuming no income growth in taxes we pay it off in approx 25 years.

[Softball Bat]

Once we've paid our debts, we can talk about reducing our taxes.

I wish.


It is way too late for fiscal responsibility.

One truth that Donald tells is that he inherited -----> a mess.

But it is far greater than just... a mess.


The U.S. faces fiscal armageddon.

But war and/or tremendous suffering will occur first, imo.





#enjoy

[Left Seater]

An almost 40% tax rate is just stupid. If this was lowered it would remove much of the incentives to avoid taking home more money. I am not in the 39.6% bracket but I do use our business to pay for many things that would normally be individual expenses. For example both my wife and I drive company vehicles with unlimited personal use. The company pays part of our mortgage since we both have home offices. Same for household expenses like water, electric, gas, insurance, etc. Our cell phones are company phones. Theater and sporting event tickets are company paid. Etc, etc, etc.

Since so much of my monthly expenditures are paid by the company I pay myself far less than I would otherwise. This helps lower my tax burden since taxes on the business are far less than personal income tax levels. Having reasonable tax brackets and fewer deductions makes my current set up less attractive.