How does this guy sleep at night knowing that he's asking the people from one of the poorest states in the union to fund his jet-setting lifestyle and political campaign? As Ben Smith notes, there are surely real cases of state business, but this looks excessive. Mississippi certainly needs federal dollars since it receives much more than it pays in federal tax dollars, but that's another issue related to GOP hypocrisy. Once a lobbyist, always a lobbyist.
The potential presidential contender may have another problem: Mississippi taxpayers paid the tab for Barbour's first-class travel. State documents obtained by TIME show that Mississippi shelled out $7,020 to shuttle Barbour and his entourage to and from D.C. on its Cessna Citation, a cost that Barbour says is justified by state work he did in D.C. over the same weekend. "The trip requests make clear the Governor was on official business including meetings with members of Congress about issues ranging from economic development to energy policy and health care reform - all important to the people of Mississippi," says his spokeswoman Laura Hipp. According to the documents, Barbour's reason for using the state plane was a "meeting with Congressional leaders"; his office declined to make public his full schedule for the two day visit. (See "Twelve for '12: A Dozen Republicans Who Could Be the Next President.")
Taking the state's jet for a mix of personal and state business is nothing new for Barbour, who says he will make a final decision on a presidential bid in April. He racked up more than $300,000 in taxpayer-funded travel bills in 2010, spending all or part of at least 175 days outside the state, according to the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss. On trips with less overlap with state business, Barbour has made a habit of hiring his own private plane, his aides say. (Politico's Ben Smith has more detail on Barbour's flying schedule here.)
