The NYT has an article on a new study by the Government Accountability Office that reports that senior government bureaucrats waste $146 million annually flying first class instead of coach. It's appropriate to crack down on this abuse (the law requires that they fly coach), but it is wrong to give readers the impression that this is a big item in the budget. This sum comes to approximately 0.005 percent of total spending or 49 cents per person per year. If the intent of the article is to inform readers, then this information should have been included since almost no NYT readers have any idea of how important $146 million is in the federal budget.
--Dean Baker
