Friday, August 06, 2010

Summer of Michelle’s Recovery

I appreciate that the President and the First Lady take vacations and that it rightly costs the taxpayers money to provide for their security, but geez...

For a start, they will be paying for the 60 rooms booked at the 129-room Hotel Villa Padierna. With basic rooms starting around £380 each, the nightly bill will be no less than £22,800.

Meals will also be picked up by the Obamas and friends. Spanish newspaper El Mundo detailed the Obamas’ dinner on their first night in Spain. The tapas menu for the delegation included sea bass tartare, strawberry gazpacho and sardines, followed by a main course of lobster with seaweed risotto.

The meal cost about £40 a head, according to El Mundo - which means a bill topping £1,600 would have hit the table if all 40 friends dined together. Stretched over five nights that’s £8,000 for dinner alone.

Whether or not the taxpaying American will be paying for meals, they will definitely be footing the bill for the First Lady’s 68-strong security detail, her personal staff - and the use of presidential jet Air Force Two.  The per diems for the secret service team runs at around £172 each, which amounts to nearly £60,000 for the length of the summer break.

Use of Air Force Two, the Air Force version of a 757, comes in at £91,900 for the round trip. This does not include time on the ground.

Mrs Obama’s personal staff, of which there are an unknown amount and who might cost considerably more per day, also have to be taken into account.

The American public will also cover the cost of the only official part of the holiday, a visit to the Spanish royal family on the island of Majorca. This will involve transport there and back for the entourage - as well as travel, accommodation, food and expenses for all while on the island.  Conservative estimates already put the total cost at £150,000. With Majorca to come, the bill will be more like £250,000.

How many vacations is this?  Why couldn’t they spend that money in America?  I’m sure the local economy of wherever they went would have appreciated the influx of cash.

(19) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1442 hrs
Economy + Foreign Affairs + Politics + Politics - General

  1. It really p#sses me off that my tax money has to go to these 2 jetting all over the world on their goverment jets. Why is it that these goverment officials feel they can live large on the tax payer money while telling every one else they need to sacrifice.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 06, 2010 at 1514 hrs


  2. Those trips to Crawford, TX were pretty frugal, eh?

    Queen Michell’s really living it up fairy tale style since her hubby won the hearts and minds of the American media.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 06, 2010 at 1613 hrs


  3. YOU ALL ARE FUCKING IDIOTS

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 06, 2010 at 1627 hrs


  4. #3…thank you for that Public Service Announcement.

    Now, onto my comment: I wonder if she used any of those nifty Spanish trains Doyle and the Democrats are always crowing about?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 06, 2010 at 1632 hrs


  5. The appropriate attack here is to calculate the money spent on an overseas vacation, multiply it by the administration’s ridiculous Keynesian multipliers, and then claim the vacation cost “x” number of American jobs based on the equally ridiculous allocation of jobs created per dollars spent formula.

    Put the administration in the position of either refuting its’ own calculations or acknowledging that it cost so many American jobs.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 06, 2010 at 1639 hrs


  6. Obama’s latest polling number was 41% approve.  Comment #3 is obviously part of that 41%.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 06, 2010 at 1835 hrs


  7. #3 I bet George Washington rode a goverment horse too.
    But maybe its time to start worrying about the present and the future.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 06, 2010 at 2003 hrs


  8. It’s troublesome when you have to worry about “appearances” for the sake of appearances.  This is mostly a non-issue.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 07, 2010 at 0957 hrs


  9. For the record, I basically feel the same way about Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II’s many vacations.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 07, 2010 at 0958 hrs


  10. It’s the elitist ruling class mindset. Of course they deserve the vacations…. they work so hard telling us what to do and bettering our lives with regulation that sometimes they NEED to jet off with forty friends at your expense.

    Marie Antoinette never had it so good (though her purported mis-steps were much exaggerated…. the Obama’s arrogant abuses are pretty much accurate).

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 07, 2010 at 1027 hrs


  11. So….

    What flavor of cake do you like?

    Posted by dad29 on August 07, 2010 at 1423 hrs


  12. I

    t’s troublesome when you have to worry about “appearances” for the sake of appearances.  This is mostly a non-issue.

    Posted by anon on August 07, 2010 at 0957 hrs


    For the record, I basically feel the same way about Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II’s many vacations.

    Posted by anon on August 07, 2010 at 0958 hrs

    I cannot stop laughing…

    Seriously….

    GWB gave up golf because we were at war, and vacationed at HIS OWN HOME IN CRAWFORD TEXAS. Michelle Obama takes the girls and FIFTY of her closest friends on vacation to Europe. You’re right ANON, pure genius….

    The left has suddenly decided that Obama’s treating their position like a Monarchy is O.K. HYPOCRITES….

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 07, 2010 at 1619 hrs


  13. ANON: “Let them eat cake!!!”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 07, 2010 at 1621 hrs


  14. So….

    What flavor of cake do you like?

    Anon: “German chocolate, buttercream, and cheesecake please, served on a solid gold platter to the table on my suite balcony aboard my private clone of the Oasis of the Seas in the pond at Versailles”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 07, 2010 at 1626 hrs


  15. Maybe you think Olive Garden is fine dining.  I’m not going to judge you.

    26 days of vacation in the first year of presidency versus 69 days.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 07, 2010 at 2013 hrs


  16. GWB gave up golf because we were at war,

    While thousands of our citizens were dying Iraq, GWB made the supreme sacrifice of giving up golf to show solidarity.  I gave up playing polo.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 08, 2010 at 0848 hrs


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    Posted by sofiya on August 11, 2010 at 2243 hrs


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    Posted by Basel Restaurant on August 13, 2010 at 0056 hrs


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    Posted by coach outlet online on August 13, 2010 at 0236 hrs


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