The Big O's date night

[Okla-homey]

The Prez took the First lady to NYC for dinner and a Broadway show this weekend.

Taxpayers footed the bill for the big night on the town, which included a total of at least $24,000 for the three aircraft used to ferry the Obamas, aides and reporters to New York and back. Dinner costs and orchestra seat tickets -- at $96.50 apiece -- were paid by the Obamas.

Obama's jet, a Gulfstream 500, served as a more modest Air Force One for the day in place of the customary presidential Boeing 747.

The White House declined to say how much the trip was costing taxpayers

Now folks, honestly, this at a time when automaker CEO's are being beat up for using corporate aircraft to attend Congressional hearings and at a time when we're being told by the White House that we are in the shiz, economically speaking?

[royalfan5]

Meh, it's not like they would have let him transport himself, and it's probably good for the President if he can try and have some semblance of a normal life. It scope of money being pissed away by the government, this isn't much more than a few dribbles.

[Curly Bill]

Yup, we're already going over the waterfall, $24,000 more ain't gonna speed things up that much.

...but why does Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burned come to mind?






(It is thought that Nero did not really play the fiddle as Rome burned)

[soonerhubs]

Meh, it's not like they would have let him transport himself, and it's probably good for the President if he can try and have some semblance of a normal life. It scope of money being pissed away by the government, this isn't much more than a few dribbles.

I wonder how many starving families could live off of those few dribbles. Oh, but wait, it's not okay to live a luxurious lifestyle unless you're the government.

I'd sure like to have a semblance of that "normal" life as well.

Cue the "W did it too" crowd.

[Curly Bill]

Cue the "W did it too" crowd.

They're quite predictably going to point out W's flights to the ranch and back.

...of course I still haven't seen how the "W' did it too" defense is a good one, since Brack was supposed to be a CHANGE.

[GottaHavePride]

If we want the economy to turn around, I think the PResident NEEDS to set an example by showing people it's still OK to get out and get some cash into circulation by doing things like going to the theater.

Keep in mind, when you go to the theater, most of the price of the tickets goes to pay actual working Americans. Singers, musicians, stagehands, costumers, etc. etc. And people going to the theater are pumping money into restaurants, hotels, other shopping, and so forth. All that sort of thing is GOOD for the economy.

No way in hell would the Secret Service let the Commander in Chief ride Amtrak up to NYC. I find it amazing they let him use a Gulfstream 500 instead of Air Force One. That move saved taxpayers a TON of money.

[TAFBSooner]

I can see one jet for the Obamas and the Secret Service. Why are we paying for reporters for a non-newsmaking event like this?

[GottaHavePride]

Now, THAT is a good question. If any news agency wants their reporters tagging along, THEY should foot the damn bill. It's not the government's job to ferry them around - the government is just supposed to be cooperative when a reporter asks a question.

[JohnnyMack]

Obama made plenty of his own money off the sale of his books.

That being said, I think he's making a mistake in carrying on the way he is. He can lead a "normal life" when he's not POTUS anymore.

[John Kochtoston]

I can see one jet for the Obamas and the Secret Service. Why are we paying for reporters for a non-newsmaking event like this?

Reporters (or their media orgs.) typically reimburse the Gov't for the cost of a first-class plane ticket. I'm pretty sure this hasn't changed, except it might now be the cost of a coach ticket. This would either be a drastic change to long-standing policy, or, more likely, poor reporting.

[batonrougesooner]

Look, I'm not an Obama fan. I've tried but I just don't trust the guy.

Having said that, he's still the POTUS. His job requires certain security and support elements that exceed those of the typical executive. Hell, they exceed those required of any human...unless you are the President of the United States.

Everytime he goes anywhere he takes along several planes, helos, and autos. That's just the nature of the office. It can seem like overkill but it is how the office and his security detail does things. It's office specific, not individual specific.

I don't begrudge the guy for a night out on the town with the Mrs. Even though I think he's a communist bastard who will ultimately ruin the country if he gets his way, he deserves and has earned the ability to take his wife to NYC for dinner and a show if he wants to.

That's my right. Should be his too, despite his need for extra security and support.

[AlbqSooner]

When he announced one of the myriad bailouts, he cautioned the execs that the money was not to be used for trips to Las Vegas on the taxpayers' dime. This last week he himself went to Las Vegas on the taxpayers' dime.

[47straight]

Yeah, I don't begrudge the trip because that's just how it is.

But please don't spend a single nickel to let the NYTimes and Ariana Huffington tag along to report on it.

[OU4LIFE]

That move saved taxpayers a TON of money.

You know what would have saved me money, them staying at home and watching TV like most of the rest of America is forced to do these days.

It's called shared pain, and there is value in it.

[JLEW1818]

He could always stay at home and play with his children's puppy.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

If this were Bush, there would be howls from everyone...MSM, the libs, the greenies, and I doubt if the restauants patrons would have given him a standing O when they left... Then again, the CEO of Government Motors should've gone up in one of his new vehicles...

[Ike]

He should have played golf instead...

[Tailwind]

Personally, if the BIG O doesn't do anything politically that pisses me off, I could give a crap what he does in his personal life.

[Pogue Mahone]

Here, I'll take the George did it bit:

He took 77 trips to Crawford, Texas, covering all or part of 490 days -- according to CBS Radio’s Mark Knoller, who's keeps track of this sort of thing for some strange reason. Bush also too 11 trips to Kennebunkport, Maine, which covered another 43 days.

If you do the math, that’s 533 days out of 2,920 in office. And those were generally flights on the 747 version of Air Force One. Obama used three smaller, and less expensive, Gulfstream jets for staff, security and press on the weekend’s trip.

And there were a few tough days on his watch, too.

[soonerhubs]

This hypocrite of a President makes me sick.

In one side of his mouth he tells us to conserve, go green, and reduce our demand for foreign oil. On the other side, he's ordering a jet to burn more fuel than I use in a year so that he can see some show, out of state.

His words: "But I want you to know that what you're doing is making a sacrifice for the next generation."

My words: Bull ****! You sacrifice FIRST, Mr. President. While you were out galavanting around Friday night, I was watering a garden and hanging out laundry. You're a president, not a king! Start acting like one and stick to your damn principles! Someone needs to put their own press clippings down for awhile and pretend he's got a job to do.

Yes, W took many trips. However, he didn't try to shove this "green" woe is Earth agenda down our throats either. Whether you agreed with W, you have to admit he stuck to his guns, to a fault in many ways.

This new administration may have some principles, but they dropped the ball on the green agenda.