Wasting tax money

To the editor:

According to reliable sources, Tom Price — the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services — recently took more than two dozen flights on private planes that cost a total of about $400,000.

He virtually acknowledged that himself when he told an interviewer that he would temporarily refrain from continuing that practice.

Reportedly, the department will investigate these outlays.

What is there to investigate? What emergency could possibly require Tom Price to get somewhere so quickly that using private jets would be justified? Is his attending or speaking at any event so vital to the security of the country?

Not likely. I’ve seen suggestions that he uses Skype when he needs to have meetings with people not close by. Skype has served millions of people living halfway around the world from each other very well. Why can’t Mr. Price do that instead of wasting taxpayer money so egregiously?

Miriam Helbok