Slow News Day

Jennifer Loven of the AP breathlessly points out that:

Taxpayers pay for Bush's campaign travel

Bankrolled almost entirely by taxpayers, President Bush is roaming far and wide on Air Force One to help Republicans retain control of Congress and capture statehouse contests in high-stakes midterm elections.

In 15 months, including back-to-back fundraisers Wednesday in Little Rock, Ark., and Nashville, Tenn., Bush has collected $166 million for the campaign accounts of 27 Republican candidates, the national GOP and its state counterparts across the country, according to the
Republican National Committee.

High-dollar Washington galas headlined by the fundraiser-in-chief brought in a big share of the total. The president also has scooped up campaign cash in 36 cities, travels that have taken him as near as McLean, Va., in the Washington suburbs and as far as Medina, Wash., 2,800 miles to the west. On Thursday, Bush adds yet another locale to the list: Salt Lake City.

Sounds pretty ominous, doesn't it? We, the taxpayers, are once again getting shafted by the evil, rich-loving, McHitlerChimpyBurton administration. And it's going to get worse:

All this to-and-fro presidential politicking is only expected to increase as November draws closer. And it is the taxpayers, not the campaigns or political parties, who foot most of the travel bill.

Oh, no! What can we do? Can't someone pass a law? Aren't there some federal regulations regarding Presidential fundraising and who pays for it? Actually, as it turns out, there are, but you have to wait four more paragraphs for it:

Bush is not the first president to operate this way. The federal regulations governing reimbursement for political travel have been on the books at least since the Reagan administration, and the White House said Bush adheres to all rules.

Oh, well. So what Bush is doing has been common practice (and, apparently, the letter of the law) for at least twenty years?

And the point of this story was what, exactly?