Israel TV Station’s Troubles Reflect a Larger Political Battleground
By ETHAN BRONNER
NYT
JERUSALEM — An Israeli television station reported last spring on numerous trips Benjamin Netanyahu had taken as an elected official to Paris, London and New York before becoming prime minister in 2009. Accompanied by his wife, he flew first class and stayed in baronial hotel suites. Mrs. Netanyahu had her hair styled and her wardrobe dry-cleaned. The bills, displayed on screen, were paid for by wealthy friends.
Traveling in luxury at the expense of others may violate public service rules and the law. It also doesn’t look good. But instead of accolades for its journalism, Channel 10 is now fighting for its life, and Mr. Netanyahu’s hostility toward it is being cast as part of a broader cultural and political war in Israel between the left and the right involving efforts to control the judiciary, the reporting of news and public discourse.
It is a battle that most immediately pits the rightist governing coalition against the liberal elite as the government refuses to postpone the station’s debt, which could force it to close.
“The fight over Channel 10 is partly a matter of revenge — Netanyahu wants to make them pay for what they did to him,” argued Nachman Shai, a member of Parliament from the opposition party Kadima and a former news executive who helped set up Channel 10 a decade ago. “But it is also part of a three-front struggle — over the courts, civil society and the media. The right wants to control every institution. Freedom of expression is at risk.”
(More here.)
NYT
JERUSALEM — An Israeli television station reported last spring on numerous trips Benjamin Netanyahu had taken as an elected official to Paris, London and New York before becoming prime minister in 2009. Accompanied by his wife, he flew first class and stayed in baronial hotel suites. Mrs. Netanyahu had her hair styled and her wardrobe dry-cleaned. The bills, displayed on screen, were paid for by wealthy friends.
Traveling in luxury at the expense of others may violate public service rules and the law. It also doesn’t look good. But instead of accolades for its journalism, Channel 10 is now fighting for its life, and Mr. Netanyahu’s hostility toward it is being cast as part of a broader cultural and political war in Israel between the left and the right involving efforts to control the judiciary, the reporting of news and public discourse.
It is a battle that most immediately pits the rightist governing coalition against the liberal elite as the government refuses to postpone the station’s debt, which could force it to close.
“The fight over Channel 10 is partly a matter of revenge — Netanyahu wants to make them pay for what they did to him,” argued Nachman Shai, a member of Parliament from the opposition party Kadima and a former news executive who helped set up Channel 10 a decade ago. “But it is also part of a three-front struggle — over the courts, civil society and the media. The right wants to control every institution. Freedom of expression is at risk.”
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Hamm … does the fear of retribution explain why travels of Members of Congress are ignored ?
ICYMI, Vicky Kline is scheduled to join her hubby on Speaker Boehner’s Brazil CODEL in early (and probably cold in Minnesota) January … Mrs. Kline will not be alone as there are at least five other wives tagging along.
So how does this expenditure of TAXPAYER DOLLARS get approved.
Well, the Speaker of the House heads the approval process … his signature alone is sufficient.
When a Congressional delegation travels overseas, the accommodations are made by the State Department and billed back to a government account that automatically refills itself and has no spending limit attached.
In 2009, according to a Roll Call tally of those reports, House committees reported about $8.7 million in travel expenses.
If the delegation is traveling on a military airplane, the Defense Department pays those costs out of its own budget. Roll Call reported last year that the military maintains a fleet of about 375 airplanes that are used for VIP travel — including Congressional travel — and according to military records, these aircraft can cost as much as $20,000 per hour to operate.
Now, it is possible that Representative John Kline may re-imburse the US Treasury for the meals that the government “pays” for … but Members of Congress have a per diem program. Administered by the State Department, when lawmakers arrive in a foreign country, U.S. government officials give them an envelope with cash in the local currency.
The total stipend is set by the State Department based on surveys of local prices. It is meant to cover three meals and incidental expenses, which federal travel regulations say include transportation and tips for baggage handling and other services.
The amounts range from $28 a day in Kabul to more than $250 a day in Awashima, Japan.
When lawmakers leave the country, U.S. government officials generally meet them to convert any leftover foreign currency back into U.S. dollars.
“There's a tacit understanding that if lawmakers don't spend the money, they get to keep it," said Rep. Sue Kelly, a New York Republican who was defeated in 2006.
Former Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, said lawmakers often used leftover money "for shopping or to buy souvenirs to bring back to constituents. That's fairly standard."
Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.) said he once bought marble goblets in the Kabul airport as gifts for constituents --- (no doubt that constituent was TaxEnoughAlready and glad to get something of value for his tax dollar.)
In two years, hundreds of lawmakers spent a total of 5,300 days visiting 130 foreign countries on taxpayer-funded trips, according to congressional travel records.
House lawmakers received between $375,000 and $625,000 in per diem cash over that period, according to a Wall Street Journal estimate based on per diem rates and congressional travel disclosures. There's no documentation for how those funds were spent.
If Mrs. Kline has her clothes dry-cleaned or hair done, the taxpayers will never know … and no news outlet will ever tell us.
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