By Mark Rhoads -
Dr. Tom Price was one of the leading experts on health care policy when he served in Congress and that made him a very well- qualified choice for HHS Secretary in any Republican Administration.
His technical efforts to craft a sensible repeal and replacement for Obamacare were sound policy and he was not responsible for the failure of Republican senators to united behind a version that would command a majority vote in that chamber.
But sometimes access to power and privilege is too great a temptation for a government official to resist misusing that power as Secretary Price did in the case of his private jet travel at taxpayer expense.
I recall that at a lower level of government, a top official of the administration of former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson in 1979 once tried to persuade a hearing of the Illinois State Senate that his use of chartered planes on normal commercial routes flying at the same time was justified because his time was "so valuable" that he actually saved taxpayer money by flying on charter planes.
That explanation did not pass the laugh test then either.
What happens to otherwise normal people when they get in positions of power? Sometimes they flip as Price did. In Congress Rep. Price was justly critical of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for her abuse of government planes for domestic travel. Yet only a year later as a member of the cabinet, Price was misusing government planes for travel overseas.
The resignation of Secretary Price is sad but it was the right thing to do and he should now make full restitution to the taxpayers for his extravagance at our expense.
