Independent voices from the TWT Communities
As Leon E. Panetta ends a decades-long Washington career capped by his service as defense secretary, he has said repeatedly that he is ready to get back to his family's bucolic walnut ranch off the central coast of California. But while serving as CIA director and defense secretary for the past four years, he has been commuting back to Monterey, Calif., nearly every weekend on the taxpayers' dime.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta commutes home to Monterey, Calif., nearly every weekend on a government jet and reimburses just a fraction of the cost to taxpayers — an arrangement that is coming under scrutiny during Washington's tough budget times.
