Live largeon yourown dime

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Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other “entitlement spending” to sustain the social “safety net” are at the forefront of federal budget debates.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, a major hand in administration budgetary policy, seems out to prove that there is entitlement spending, and then, there is entitlement spending.

Back in August, Mnuchin and his wife, actress Louise Linton, happened to arrive in Kentucky on a government jet just in time to observe the total solar eclipse as it tracked across the Southeastern part of the country. The department’s inspector general is examining whether there were any ethical breaches involved in using the jet, for which the Mnuchins since have reimbursed the Air Force.

Linton created a social media firestorm with a condescending response to a woman in Oregon who had questioned the couple’s use of the jet.

“Do you think the US govt paid for our honeymoon or personal travel?!,” Linton posted, in part.

Well, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Last week ABC News reported that Mnuchin formally had asked for use of a government jet to take him and Linton on their honeymoon to Scotland, France and Italy after their wedding in June. The average operating cost for one of the Air Force’s business jets is $25,000 an hour.

The Treasury Department claims that Mnuchin wanted an Air Force jet to ensure secure communications in his role as a member of the National Security Council.

Secure NSC communications, however, do not depend upon civilians’ use of military jets. Indeed, the NSC and Treasury used other means to ensure secure communications.

Mnuchin is a successful and wealthy businessman, investment banker and movie producer. He and Linton are entitled to as lavish a lifestyle as they desire, and entitled to pay for it.