October 14, 2010 10:09AM 

# Great Job if You Can Get It 

By [Marian L. Tupy](https://www.cato.org/people/marian-l-tupy) 

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The British *[Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/8061967/MEPs-take-350000-study-break-to-Madeira.html)* reports that 250 Members of the European Parliament, along with 80 assistants and 70 bureaucrats who work for the center-right European People’s Party in the European Parliament, took a “three-day study break” at the holiday resort on the Portuguese island of Madeira. The taxpayer will pay $500,000 for the trip that included a stay in five-star hotels. The formal program included “a debate on controversial plans by the MEPs to increase the EU budget for 2011.”

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) 

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