Michelle Obama To Enter Campaign Fray

This is one of eight vacations Mrs. Obama will take this year. To justify US taxpayers picking up any of the costs of this trip, a private lunch with the King of Spain and his wife has been scheduled, making this an "official visit".



The criticism aimed at Michelle Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the U.S. and support its fragile economy. Just last month in the Florida panhandle, hit hard by the oil disaster in the gulf, Michelle Obama urged parents "looking for things to do with their kids this summer" to vacation in the Florida panhandle.



The opulence of the European trip also has drawn scrutiny as the resort Michelle Obama and her friends are staying in boasts two golf courses, a posh spa with Turkish baths, views of the Mediterranean Sea and a high-end restaurant specializing in avant-garde fare. Room rates are as high as $6,500 for a two-bedroom villa with a private pool and 24-hour butler service.
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Michelle Obama To Enter Campaign Fray

Michelle Obama flew to Spain on Air Force Two, which costs the government $11,555 an hour to operate, according to the Air Force. Assuming a nearly eight hour flight to nearby Malaga, the total round-trip cost of the flight is about $178,000.



The Obama family will reimburse the government an amount equal to two first class tickets - for mother and daughter Sasha, Air Force officials said. A round-trip first-class flight to Malaga costs about $7,400 apiece, without discounts or restrictions. Michelle Obama's office said the first family will pay for personal expenses, but won't reveal the taxpayer cost for the government employees.



This does not include the costs for round-the-clock Secret Security, which is three shifts of security detail per day, along with the transportation of special armored cars and so on. An unspecified number of Secret Service agents and aides are staying at government expense. A spokesman declined to say how many agents are with the first lady in Spain.
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Michelle Obama To Enter Campaign Fray

In addition, none of the published reports include the cost of the cargo planes that tag along and which carry ground transportation and other equipment for security needed during these trips.



Are Michelle's friends paying for the ground transportation that's been cargoed to Spain by the Secret Service for Mrs. Obama and her daughter? Or are they taking public transportation and will meet up with her and Sasha at the public beach and other sightseeing destinations?



The cargo planes that accompany Air Force One and Two are pricey. When Barack Obama flew back to Illinois for one night and flew back to Washington DC for one night and back again to Illinois (2 round trips in one long weekend), Air Force One cost $214,768.00 and the cargo plane that flew with him cost another $32,140. A total of $246,908 for two round trips to Illinois over a five day period.



The costs published are for the planes alone. They don't include the costs of the personnel required to fly and operate the aircraft, or inflight services, such as cooks, stewards, maintenance and repair personnel.
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You have no facts to back what you say up; you are guessing. You don't know how much Michelle Obama paid for and how much she didn't; you are guessing.



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Read it and weep:



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/us/politics/08vacation.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-michelle-spain-20100807,0,4606035.story

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/06/2942733/michelle-obamas-spanish-vacation.html



On examination of CBS' numbers, they have been through a spin cycle.



The $95,550 for Secret Service is a $273 per diem per agent. Seventy are estimated to be on this trip.



CBS claims $146,000 is "for the round trip, not counting four to five days' ground time".



The NYT, LAT, and SacBee included how they came up with their published costs. According to them, the Air Force jet Mrs. Obama flew costs $11,351 per hour to operate, meaning a 14-hour round trip would cost $160,000 to $178,000. That does not include the four to five days of ground time, which can be pricey. After every flight, the plane is completely serviced before it goes back into the air.



According to official government documents on the costs of flying and maintaining Air Force One and Two, all of the news organizations' figures have been low-balled. In 2004, it cost taxpayers $60,000 an hour to operate these planes.



KEEP READING
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Michelle Obama To Enter Campaign Fray

Laura's trip to Africa was not an official visit.

=========================



Yes, it was.



http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-26-laura-bush-africa_N.htm
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Of which Obama did not create, nor his wife.

Laura Bush went on a safari. With her two girls. In Africa.

Didn't seem to care about it then.

Wonder why this particular First Lady is different?

Skin color, perhaps?

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I can't f*ck!ng believe that you 0bamabots are putting liberal Democrats in the position of defending anything about the Bushes, but, Laura Bush's trips weren't vacations. They were official trips representing the US and visiting US government programs and aid going to malaria and HIV/AIDS programs in Africa.



How did we get id-jits like you on our side?
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The trips that you're talking about that Laura Bush took were official visits and not vacations.



All good liberals did criticize Bush's excessive amount of time off in Crawford, as did the media.



It's more exasperating now, being that we're in a Depression and an entire region of our nation that relies on tourist dollars to survive has been destroyed, and both Obamas made appeals to Americans to spend their vacations in that region and support the American economy.



Many liberal Democrats consider Obama's a tone deaf presidency. I don't think it's as tone deaf as it is arrogant and deceptive. The Obamas are DINOs and not as sympathetic to We The People as their most ardent supporters have believed them to be.



Are those who are defending Obama really having such a difficult time understanding the issues involved here? Or are you political operatives paid to try to confuse the issues for the reading public?
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