News-Record.com

If first lady Mary Easley's two trips abroad at taxpayers' expense were anything but junkets, they should have been publicly announced.

Neither her 2007 travels to France nor a spring visit to Russia and Estonia were disclosed at the time. Only after The News & Observer of Raleigh filed a public records request were they acknowledged.

Considered "cultural exchanges," the goal of the trips supposedly was to build links with other countries. The rationale is that official visits help to attract major showings like the highly successful 2006-07 Monet exhibit at the N.C. Museum of Art.

But a convincing case has yet to be made that such iffy deals always should be consummated on foreign turf. And, so far, the first lady's travels haven't produced a single tangible result.

The revelation comes days after learning the costs of an April trip the Easleys and about a dozen officials took to Italy promoting the state as a tourist destination and business location.

All three trips share one thing in common: going first-class when less extravagant would have sufficed nicely. The bottom line for Mrs. Easley's trips is $109,000. The final tally on the governor's spring Italian tour comes to more than $170,000.

Unfortunately, whatever influence Mary Easley may have banked toward procuring traveling art exhibits for the state will have vanished by the time the next governor is sworn in.

Easley's status as a lame duck not seeking office and the ill-chosen timing make the family trips appear to be last-minute plays for free vacations.

The late-term jaunts must be particularly galling to hard-working Tar Heels who canceled beach getaways because they can't afford to buy gasoline.

To them, the pricey family travels must look like bold parting shots before the moving vans roll up in January.