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EXT. BACKYARD
Dead tree. A concerned FATHER in a white wig. A BOY with a hatchet.
FATHER
Did you chop down this cherry tree, son?
BOY
I cannot tell a lie.... No.
FATHER
Do you want to rethink that answer, George?
BOY
(thinking) ... No.
FATHER
If you want to be Father of our Country, don't you think people are going to expect a little bit more than that?
BOY
Apparently not. At least not in the future. Look at Richard Pombo.
(off his look)
Congressman Richard Pombo. He used tax dollars to pay for a private
family vacation to our National Parks.
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Pombo was reimbursed $4,935.82 from the House Resources Committee budget to rent an RV to travel, with his family, to seven national parks from July 27 to August 11, 2003. According to a list released by his spokesman, Brian Kennedy, Pombo visited Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Joshua Tree national parks in California; Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming; the Grand Canyon in Arizona; and Mount Rushmore and Badlands national parks in South Dakota. (Tracy Press, 2/10/06)
In an article posted under Pombo’s name to his Resources Committee website in the summer of 2003 Pombo said, “This August, my family and I rented an RV and set out to explore the West. We spent two weeks on vacation, stopping along the way to enjoy the splendor of many of our national parks.” However, when confronted with the trip Pombo claimed that the purpose of the trip was to meet with park personnel and learn about park issues he oversees as chairman of the committee. Pombo insisted that he spent virtually the entire trip talking to the park superintendents and other officials. Pombo said, “It was not a personal trip.” (Tracy Press, 2/9/06; Associated Press, 2/10/06; San Francisco Chronicle, 2/10/06)
At least two parks officials claim that Pombo never showed up for his official visits. “I was working in the park then and can’t confirm that a meeting like that ever took place. I generally remember the congressmen that come here,” said Joe Zarki, a spokesman at Joshua Tree National Park. According to a spokesperson for Badlands National Park, Pombo made arrangements to visit but never arrived. “We had it all set up for him to come, and he never showed up, and I mean we had gone to a lot of work,” said Pam Livermont, the secretary to Badlands’ superintendent. (Tracy Press, 2/10/06)
FATHER
You're looking into the future?
BOY
It's a gift.
(beat)
Then he wanted to sell 15 of those parks to developers who supported him. Plus he used taxpayer money to rent a luxury Lincoln and to pay his government staff while they worked on political campaigns!
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In a draft bill, Pombo proposed the sale of 15 national parks. The parks to be sold were Eugene O'Neill National Historical Site, California, Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas, Fort Bowie National Historical Site, Arizona, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historical Site, Massachusetts, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House, District of Columbia, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota, Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania, Thomas Stone National Historical Site, Maryland, Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, Alaska, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska, Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska, Noatak National Preserve, Alaska, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska (San Francisco Chronicle, 9/24/05; Proposed Recommendations for Budget Reconciliation, Title VI – Committee on Resources, Subtitle C – Subcommittee on National Parks, Section 6308)
Over the course of his career, Pombo has taken $354,608 in campaign contributions from development interests, including $290,390 from real estate agents and $64,218 from homebuilders (Center for Responsive Politics)
Pombo leases a Lincoln at taxpayer expense. Through a little known perk available to member of Congress, Pombo paid $7,086.36 from his House office budget to lease a Lincoln. Pombo declined to lease the car through the General Services Administration, which negotiates bulk lease rates for the federal government. Cars leased through the GSA are significantly less expensive, with a four-door midsize sedan costing about $258 a month. (Knight Ridder, 3/12/06)
Pombo gave his committee staff leave to work on campaigns at taxpayer expense. Pombo granted his 47 GOP staffers on the House Resources Committee a month of paid administrative leave time prior to Election Day. Chief of staff Steve Ding called this time off compensation for many long hours worked by the staff. Republican and Democratic committee staff directors said it was highly unusual to shut down a committee during the peak election season. Some aides used the taxpayer-sponsored leave to volunteer for two of the House’s most embattled Republicans, Reps. Rick Renzi and Steve Pearce who were also members of the Resources Committee. (The Hill, 10/6/04; Modesto Bee, 10/21/04)
FATHER
-- And, what about the cherry tree?
BOY
I know I'm supposed to admit it, Dad. But I think I've been putting too much pressure on myself. High moral standards aren't the selling point I thought they would be. And I say: if it's good enough for Congressman Pombo, that’s good enough for me!
(He spies a bunch of cherries on the ground. Pockets them. Off his father's disapproving look.)
BOY
Let's just say: I pulled a Pombo! |
