No wonder airlines in this country are having trouble making ends meet. Somebody took away former Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shirley Ybarra’s state credit cards.

Ybarra, who headed transportation efforts, such as they were, under Allen and Gilmore, from July of 1998 through December of last year racked up more than $137,000 in travel-related expenses picked up by Virginia taxpayers.

Wait a minute! Just a darned minute! You mean that happened under a tight-fisted, cut-spending, less is better, anti-government, Republican governor?

‘Fraid so. At least according to state spending records obtained under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.

Don’t be so shocked. Those Republicans always talked a better game than they played. For further reference, see the CURRENT BIG MESS WE’RE IN, playing daily on newsstands everywhere.

So we’re cutting education, law enforcement, social services, and, yes, even transportation. So we’re closing libraries and moth-balling prisons. So we’re going to deny the tens of thousands of state employees the raises they deserve -- including those who shove the cargo around at the state port. So we’re going to lay off professors and deputies. So what? Boring stuff, if you traveled with Shirley.

Her records read like a James Bond itinerary. Rio de Janeiro. Tokyo. Sao Paulo. Buenos Aires. London. Hong Kong. Paris. Amsterdam. Hamburg.

Let’s see. There was the South American jaunt late in the summer of ’98. Tab to the taxpayers? $18,833.41. And keep in mind that these numbers are just for the Secretary. Forget about the entourage. Liked the trip so well, she went again in ’99. Holy cow! Must have gone ‘economy’ on this one. Tab is only $15,419.23.

Then there was the ‘quickie’ to Buenos Aires in January, 2000 -- a mere $12,603.16. And then there was that summer gig in Asia that year--$25,759.06. And then the new year came. And Shirley blew it out--$60,032.81 in 2001 travel expenses for her alone -- all paid out of the Virginia Port Authority budget.

The authority oversees a fabulous natural harbor. Its four facilities cumulatively rank second only to New York in east coast tonnage moved. It is a major, world-wide player in the shipping industry, and it is indispensable to the well-being of the Commonwealth. But is that kind of travel by a cabinet secretary necessary? Well, you’re footing the bill. You decide that one.

And while you’re mulling that over, be thinking about the Virginia Literary Foundation. It is funded by the Virginia Tobacco Commission to the tune of several million dollars. It, too, involves a former Gilmore cabinet secretary. And we’ll be taking a look at it. The arrangement is just a little bit cozy. But then … hey … you’ll have to decide that one, too. After all, that money’s yours, just like the rest of it.