Star Mysteriously Absent on Leases

In 2006, the Kansas City Star ran with a story about Congressional offices leasing vehicles for official duties. In the first article (On the Hill Pricey Wheels, 3/12/06), they made a half-hearted attempt to approach the issue in a bipartisan fashion.

From there it has only gone downhill. In an editorial three days later (Costly Motoring at Taxpayers' Expense, 3/15/06) they attacked a list of Republicans who used vehicles to travel to and communicate with their constituents, ignoring Democrats who do the same thing. We can only presume that would weaken the partisan intentions of the piece.

The best example of the double standard is perhaps Emanuel Cleaver, who spends $2,900 per month on a "mobile office" that costs 70 cents a mile to drive around. Its features include a DVD player, WiFi internet, and it runs on cooking oil.

 

The Kansas City Star has written about it in the past, without ever including a negative word. Why the double standard? Every Congressional office does case work around the district, and Emanuel Cleaver's 'mobile office' is the most expensive and elaborate setup in the country.

What's particularly confusing about this treatment is that Emanuel Cleaver's district is 511.52 square miles - over 25 times smaller than, for example, the 6th District, with correspondingly smaller travel requirements. This and other considerations were ignored by The Star's editorials, and this isn't the only time The Star opted to give the public half the facts on official vehicles. 

The Star has attacked Republican lawmakers on multiple occasions for spending far less to travel around much larger districts. Maybe it would be a good time to adopt a more critical attitude.

Comments

[kcfella]

One might conclude that the Star no longer is in the business of journalism. I suspect after the one sided beat down of Alvin Brooks on behalf of the man who they backed and unleashed upon us as a Municipal Nightmare that the Star lost whatever credibility was left to it. I for one, can't wait to see what pathetic antics they pull out for their next choice for Mayor... maybe they will drop another 10-20,000 readers after that. It seems that many people have had enough of the remnants of the Kansas City Star staff.