It Cost US Taxpayers At Least $250,000 To Repatriate A Bicycle-Challenged John Kerry

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

The somewhat farcical journey home from Europe for Secretary of State John Kerry continues. As we noted previously, after breaking his leg on an arbidged Tour de France’-esque accident in which he hit a curb, he was flown to Geneva in a helicopter where he was “stable and never lost consciousness,” which makes sense (unless as many have suggested his brain lies considerably lower in his body than most humans).  

But then the escapade got beyond unreal as The White House sent a massive “specially-equipped” C-17 airplane (used to carrying over 100 combat troops and equipment into battle) to fly him to Boston for surgery.

We assume he is covered by Obamacare, since the cost of this rescue mission – assuming roughly 10 hours flight-time – is at least $250,000… and all to avoid an Iran deadline no one expects to meet…

As The Washington Post reports,

Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who broke his leg in a bicycling accident near Geneva Sunday, left for home Monday aboard a specially outfitted U.S. military aircraft.

The C-17 transport plane, dispatched from the U.S. base in Ramstein, Germany, was “staffed by additional military medical personnel in keeping with standard practice,” Kerry spokesman John Kirby said.

Kerry, 71, is en route to Boston, where he will be admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital under the care of Dennis Burke, the surgeon who operated on him for a previous hip replacement on the same leg.

He broke his right femur, near the site of the replaced hip joint, when he hit a curb with his bicycle wheel and fell at the beginning of a ride near the French town of Scionzier, about 30 miles from Geneva. He was flown by medical helicopter to a Geneva hospital, where he stayed until his medical evacuation.

He is scheduled to arrive in Boston on Monday evening.

Initial plans to fly Kerry aboard a commercial medical evacuation aircraft late Sunday were cancelled after physicians decided that he should remain in Geneva for further evaluation.

There was no indication of whether further surgery will be required.

So that’s good then… though at a cost of at least $24,000 per hour, we have 2 quick questions:

1) Given the cost-conscious White House could they not have found a more comfortable (or cheaper) option – Warren Buffett’s private jet? and

2) It’s a broken femur!… not a brain aneurism, or heart malfunction, or any manner of considerably more complex health problems that might have required an arsenal of medical equipment to ensure survival

And for those cynics who see this as a timely ‘accident’ to avoid the looming Iran deadline, The White House has this to say…

While Kerry’s recovery period is unknown, State Department officials insisted that he will not be prevented from participating in the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, which are closing in on a deadline at the end of the month.

“The secretary is absolutely committed to moving with the negotiations, to proceeding with them on the exact same timetable as before his accident,” State Department spokeswoman Mari Harf said today. “[It’s] critical to stress that he is committed to doing so in the same time frame.”

So rest assured – if there any missed deadlines, it is not because Iran is ‘dealing’ with Russia for new nuclaer facilities or trying to slow-play America, it’s just Kerry’s recovery

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-01/it-cost-us-taxpayers-least-250000-repatriate-bicycle-challenged-john-kerry