'This Is Their Hajj'

It's bad enough we have to endure the rantings of some anti-capitalist thugs in Copenhagen, but now you're picking up the tab to fly planeloads of more anti-capitalist thugs to Copenhagen.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a large delegation on at least two Air Force jets to Copenhagen for the climate summit -- where participants harshly condemn the use of jet airplanes for the high amounts of CO2 they emit.

"This may be the largest congressional delegation I have ever heard of," said a source at the 89th Air Wing stationed at Andrews Air Force Base of the trip to the UN summit, which is increasingly being criticized as a farce.

Using her authority as speaker, Pelosi reserved at least two jets based at Andrews AFB to fly her and her delegation to Denmark for the final days of the two-week conference.

But Republicans on Capitol Hill and the 89th Air Wing source said Pelosi actually reserved five planes to carry a delegation that includes as many as 24 Democrats and six Republicans.

At a time when Democrats are grappling with a host of major issues from health-care reform to the financial crisis, Pelosi planned yesterday to clip short the workweek to make the climate summit.

"Climate change is a religion for them, so there was no way they were going to miss this," said one top GOP aide. "This is their Hajj."

A Democratic source insisted that the delegation would be using just two planes but would not specify further.

While the final manifest remained in flux late yesterday, it was said to include more than two dozen members of Congress, several spouses and committee staffers.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was among those planning to go because of his duties as chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, a staffer told The Post.

"We all know that Charlie Rangel is a big fan of subsidizing his vacation with taxpayer money, but the truly offensive aspect of this is Nancy Pelosi's decision to bring the corrupt Harlem Democrat along for the ride," said Republican spokesman Ken Spain.

The 89th Air Wing's biggest planes are the military versions of the Boeing 757 and the Boeing 737.

The 757 carries 45 passengers and costs more than $10,000 per hour to fly, according to Air Force figures.

The roundtrip cost to Copenhagen and back for the C-32A would cost taxpayers $160,000.

The 737 carries 26 passengers and costs about $7,500 per hour of flight time, bringing the costs of a Copenhagen jaunt to $120,000.

Exactly what is the purpose of these people showing up there other than to go shopping and eat lavishly?

All this while their approval ratings continue to crater, more people than ever are skeptical of this mythical climate change, and for good reason, spending is out of control and Democrats face massive losses in 2010. The sheer arrogance of these people is absolutely breathtaking. Talk about rubbing it in our faces.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Update: Here are the Republicans attending this fiasco.

So now we hear from Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner, who sends word via a press release that in Copenhagen, "I look forward to seeing these negotiations progress and will pay close attention to make sure any deal struck is a good deal for the United States." Sensenbrenner, who led a congressional delegation to the last big global warming summit back in 1997, adds that, "We should not repeat the mistakes made in Kyoto."

Sensenbrenner's office says he will "closely follow" several issues at the Copenhagen conference, including "the developing world's demands for wealth transfers, the levels of commitment from developing countries [and] the feasibility of greenhouse gas reduction targets." With him are Republican Reps. Joe Barton, Fred Upton, Shelley Moore Capito, John Sullivan, and Marsha Blackburn. Fourteen Democrats are on the trip, including the Speaker.

Thanks also to Hot Air for the link.