Obama Shuts Down White House Tours while Family Vacations Continue

Hat tip to Fox News for this report

White House suspends public tours, but first family trips in full swing

WASHINGTON –  Visitors to the nation’s capital looking for a White House public tour are out of luck starting this weekend, courtesy of what the Secret Service says is its own decision to deal with the sequester cuts. 

But while the agency said it needed to pull officers off the tours for more pressing assignments, the budget ax didn’t swing early or deep enough to curtail a host of recent Secret Service-chaperoned trips like President Obama’s much-discussed Florida golf outing with Tiger Woods, first lady Michelle Obama‘s high-profile multi-city media appearances, or even daughter Malia Obama’s New York dinner outing with a group of teenage friends. 

Obama’s pricey golf outings have been a particular target for Republicans who see them as examples of what they say are the administration’s rather selective concerns with running up the tab of Secret Service resources. On March 5, Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert filed an amendment to a House resolution that would prohibit federal funds from being spent on Obama’s golf trips until public tours of the White House resumed. 

Gohmert referenced press reports pegging the cost of a recent Florida golf outing Obama took with Tiger Woods at $1 million. He also cited press reports saying 341 federal workers could have been spared furloughs if Obama had stayed home. 

“The president’s travel expenses alone, for the golfing outing with Tiger Woods, would pay for a year of White House visits,” Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer said Thursday. “So I suggest that perhaps he curtail the travel.” 

The price tag and draw on Secret Service resources involving promotional campaigns like Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative is less clear. 

The Secret Service does not usually reveal how many agents and other resources are assigned to protective missions so it’s not known just how much it cost taxpayers to ferry the first lady to events like her dance routine on Jimmy Fallon’s show — the highlight of a Feb. 22 media blitz in New York — or her Feb. 27-28 visit to Mississippi, Missouri and her hometown of Chicago. 

Those trips would all have involved Secret Service details traveling with the first lady, as well as advance work by teams of agents on location. 

When asked by FoxNews.com if the first lady’s office or schedule would be affected by the sequester, the White House issued a 100-word statement that made no mention of any specific cuts that might affect Michelle Obama’s activities — while making a generic reference to cuts affecting the “Executive Office of the President,” which houses the first lady’s office.  

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, asked how the White House was cutting back, on Thursday declined to provide details about any potential furloughs or other cuts. 

But on the decision to close the tours, he said “the President and the first lady have throughout the time that they’ve been here made extraordinary efforts to make this the people’s house, and it is extremely unfortunate that we have a situation like the sequester that compels the kinds of tradeoffs and decisions that this represents.” 

It’s also not clear what Secret Service resources were dedicated to the New York visit by 14-year-old Malia Obama, who was spotted dining with a group of friends at the New York restaurant Buddakan less than 24 hours after President Obama signed off on the sequester. According to media reports, the group was chaperoned by four parents and five security guards who dined at the table directly next to them. There were also Secret Service agents in the restaurant, according to reports that said they stayed behind the group. 

How much overtime these types of assignments cost the Secret Service may be an area of concern. Donovan told FoxNews.com that overtime costs factored into the decision to shut down the White House tours. By taking the 30 officers involved in the tours and assigning them to high-priority security posts, officers normally on those duties can log fewer hours — in turn saving the Secret Service money. 

“It reduces overtime costs overall for us,” Donovan said. 

The tours will not be rescheduled and will stay frozen until further notice. 

That’s bad news for groups like the sixth graders at St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Iowa, who had been planning to take the White House tour on March 16. Fourteen students from that group and their teacher on Thursday took their frustrations to Facebook. In a web video, they held up handmade posters and chanted, “The White House is our house.” 

Some Republicans in Congress expressed their displeasure with the cuts more forcefully. “Canceling all self-guided White House tours is the latest shameless political stunt by the president, who is twisting basic government efficiency into an extreme consequence,” Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., said in a statement March 5th.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/08/white-house-public-tours-on-hold-first-family-trips/#ixzz2MyQ8HYgp

IT’S OUR WHITE HOUSE

Mr. President

Related articles

• No White House tours, no golf for Obama, Rep. Gohmert says (iowntheworld.com)
• Fox News anchor offers to save White House tours, with his wallet (hotair.com)
• White House tours cost $74,000 a week for Secret Service (politico.com)
• VIDEO: Eric Bolling Offers to Pick Up Tab for White House Tours (foxnewsinsider.com)
• Cancelling White House Tours Saves Less than Cost of One of Obama’s Vacations (nationalreview.com)
• Charles Krauthammer: Obama Should Curtail His Traveling To Help Fund The White House Tours (Video) (nicedeb.wordpress.com)

 

Bush, Palin, Cain, Romney, Ryan: Bad? Obama/Biden: Good? See for Yourself

If George W. Bush had doubled the national debt, which had taken more than two centuriesto accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?  
IfGeorge W. Bushhad then proposedto double the debt againwithin 10 years, would you haveapproved?

If George W. Bush had criticized a state law that he admitted he never even read would you think that he is just an ignorant hot head?

If George W. Bush joined the country of  Mexico  and sued a state in the United States to force that state to continue to allow illegal immigration, would you question his patriotism and wonder whose side he was on?

If George W. Bush had put 87000 workers out of work by arbitrarily placing a moratorium on offshore oil drilling on companies that have one of the best safety records of any industry because one company had an accident would you have agreed?

If George W. Bush had used a forged document as the basis of the moratorium that would render 87000 American workers unemployed would you support him?

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a TelePrompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how  inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

 If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan’s holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of  England  an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of  Saudi Arabia , would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had visited  Austria  and made reference to the nonexistent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had stated that there were 57 states in the  United States , would you have said that he is clueless.

If George W. Bush would have flown all the way to  Denmark  to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in  Texas , would you have thought he was a self important, conceited, egotistical jerk?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word “advice” would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoes as proof of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush’s administration had OK’d Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in  New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue  with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America, would you have approved.

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? 

Can’t think of anything? 

Don’t worry.

He’s done all this in less than four years. 

Obama’s Tired Old, Same Old, Talking Points Still Void of Any Results

ALL TALK, NO ACTION

AMERICA’S HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR SPEECHES

MR. PRESIDENT

WE HAVE TO LET YOU GO

The Deceptive Liberal Media Bias Exposed Again: Ann Romney -vs- Michelle Obama

Hat tip to Fox News for this story

Ann Romney slammed for $990 Shirt, Michelle Obama praised for $6,800 jacket

Back in May, Ann Romney, wife of Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, wore a $990 Reed Krakoff silk shirt for a media appearance. The item of clothing set off a media firestorm, with the Romneys widely accused of being “out of touch” with average Americans.

In particular, the Washington Post wrote that the $990 blouse “will not help her husband change those perceptions, no matter how many Laundromat photo ops are on the campaign’s itinerary.”

Fast forward to last Friday, when First Lady Michelle Obama attended an Olympics reception for heads of state at Buckingham Palace, donning a J. Mendel cap sleeve jacket from the 2013 Resort collection.

The price-tag? $6,800.

This time, the Washington Post simply described the intricacies of the jacket and noted that Mrs. Obama has previously been criticized for “not dressing up enough for Queen Elizabeth II, so she stepped up her game.” No snide remarks, no outrage over the cost, no suggestion she was “out of touch.”

“The media’s overabundant love affair with the Obamas has become increasingly blatant as this election draws nearer. Scrutinizing Mrs. Romney for a fashion choice that cost considerably less than that of the First Lady is yet another example of the media being purely sanctimonious,” former political publicist Angie Meyer told FoxNews.com. “The media continues to relish their roles as liberal bullies, and have relentlessly bullied the Romneys from the beginning. It is pure hypocrisy at its finest.”

Glenn Selig of The Publicity Agency concurred.

“The media will not stay quiet on the issue because wealth remains a big issue with the Romneys. It is not his fault that he’s wealthy, but the media is portraying it as a liability,” Selig said.

Dan Gainor, VP of Business and Culture for Media Research Center in Washington DC, said it’s “just the latest example of a consistent media theme that somehow Romney is too wealthy and out of touch because he’s a millionaire. Except of course that Obama is also a millionaire. “

Some also highlighted the apparent hypocrisy on Twitter. “And you thought the Romneys were out of touch?” tweeted one, while another wondered who had to pay for the almost $7,000 dress, and another balked that the “jacket would put a lot of food on the table of one of the 25M unemployed people in USA.”

Not everyone’s nose was out of joint, however. Media commentator Jenn Hoffman told FoxNews.com that “Americans need to face the fact that with our current system, politicians need to have money. That is how they get into the office in the first place. If you are near the White House, you have access to serious cash and much of that cash is spent on honing your image.”

Mark Joseph, producer of “Wild Card: The Promise & Peril of Sarah Palin,” added that “Mrs. Romney’s wardrobe expenses are certainly fair game, but so are Mrs. Obama’s, and political reporters have got to do a better job of being even-handed.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/08/01/ann-romney-slammed-for-0-shirt-michelle-obama-praised-for-6800-jacket/#ixzz22J2r3IwG

The Media Bias Continues

Related articles

• While Americans Suffer – Michelle Obama Sports $6,800 Jacket to London Soiree (thegatewaypundit.com)
• ABC: No, Ann Romney didn’t say ‘you people’ (hotair.com)
• Michelle Obama in a $6,800 jacket at the London Olympics reception (examiner.com)

Daring to Question Michelle Obama’s Extravagent Tax Payer Funded White House Lifestyle?

In my own life in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said.
“See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service.
Michelle Obama

Why don’t they show this on CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC, … ETC?

This isn’t new news but it certainly is disturbing and it says something about the ones that think the wealth should be spread around!

No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession.

Just think, Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing China for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary from her husband’s salary.

How things have changed! If you’re one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers,prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Ms Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by YOU, John Q. Public:

Michele Obama’s personal staff:

One.. $172,200 – Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
Two.. $140,000 – Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)
Three.. $113,000 – Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary for Mrs. Obama)
Four.. $102,000 – Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President
And Director of Communications for the First Lady)
Five.. $100,000 – Winter, Melissa (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
Six.. $90,000 Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
Seven.. $84,000 – Lilyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)
Eight.. $75,000 – Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)
Nine.. $70,000 – Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Project for the First Lady)
Ten.. $65,000 – Burnough, Erinn (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
Eleven.. $64,000 – Reinstein, Joseph B.(Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
Twelve.. $62,000 – Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)
Thirteen.. $60,000 Fitz, Alan O.(Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director
For the First Lady)
Fourteen.. $57,500 – Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)
Fifteen… $52,500 – Mustaphi, Semonti M. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)
Sixteen.. $50,000 – Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)
Seventeen.. $45,000 – Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)
Eighteen.. $43,000 – Tubman, Samanth a (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
Nineteen.. $40,000 – Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
Twenty.. $36,000 – Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
Twenty-One… $35,000 – Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
Twenty-Two.. $35,000 – Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)
(total $1,591,200 in annual salaries)

There has NEVER been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady’s social life.

One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense.

Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and “First Hairstylist” Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom traveled aboard Air Force One to Europe .

(Source for this Posting came via Email)

From Voting American we read this:

Michelle Obama Listed Daughters Malia and Sasha as “Senior Staffers” for $432,142 Family Vacation to Africa ?

http://votingamerican.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/michelle-obama-listed-daughters-malia-and-sasha-as-%E2%80%9Csenior-staffers%E2%80%9D-for-432142-family-vacation-to-africa/

BANKRUPTING AMERICA: The Obama Tax Payer Funded White House Extravaganza Continues…

http://votingamerican.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/bankrupting-america-the-obama-tax-payer-funded-white-house-extravaganza-continues/

From Ireporters Village of the Banned we read this:

Obama Family Returning from Vacation in Hawaii but Where Will They Go Next Month?

http://ireporters.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/obama-family-returning-from-vacation-in-hawaii-but-where-will-they-go-next-month/

The Angry First Lady

http://ireporters.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/the-angry-first-lady/

The Angry First Lady

Book Depicts Tension Between First Lady, White House Aides

WASHINGTON –  First lady Michelle Obama is a behind-the-scenes force in the White House whose opinions on policy and politics drew her into conflict with presidential advisers and who bristled at some of the demands and constraints of life as the president’s wife, according to a detailed account of the first couple’s relationship. 

New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor, in a book to be published Tuesday, portrays a White House where tensions developed between Mrs. Obama and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and former press secretary and presidential adviser Robert Gibbs. 

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the book, “The Obamas,” Friday evening and The Times posted a 3,300-word adaption on its website that appeared to capture its most revealing accounts. The book is based on interviews with 30 current and former aides, though President Barack Obama and the first lady declined to be interviewed for the book. 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/07/book-depicts-tension-between-first-lady-white-house-aides/#ixzz1imkGRC2q

Try Having A

“Happy Meal“

Michelle

It’s All AMERICAN!

Obama Family Returning from Vacation in Hawaii but Where Will They Go Next Month?

Denmark, Africa, Spain, Hawaii and on and on they go…

Too bad President Obama didn’t have time to go to Hawaii for the 70th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor?

Michelle Obama Listed Daughters Malia and Sasha as “Senior Staffers” for $432,142 Family Vacation to Africa ?

Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Washington Whispers reported on the African trip.

First lady Michelle Obama’s family trip to South Africa and Botswana in June cost taxpayers well over $424,000, according to new accounting based on Air Force manifests obtained by Judicial Watch, a taxpayer watchdog group.

The use of Air Force aircraft alone for the June 21-27 trip cost $424,142, said the group, and that doesn’t include the food, lodging, and ground transportation for the 21 family and staff members.

The daughters were listed as senior staff.

Defend this Fraud, Liberal Media. We’re Waiting.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/10/michelle-obama-listed-daughters-malia-and-sasha-as-senior-staffers-for-432142-african-trip/

Have a Happy Angry Meal America

In Other News

Obama said to be in Training for Post Election Job

Related articles

• Michelle Obama Listed Daughters Malia and Sasha as “Senior Staffers” for $432,142 Family Vacation to Africa ? (votingamerican.wordpress.com)
• Obama ends low-key vacation, preps for campaign (cbsnews.com)
• Obama Ending Vacation, Preparing For 2012 Re-election (huffingtonpost.com)
• Michelle Obama – Hawaii wardrobe a fashion hit or a fashion miss? (examiner.com)
• Romney Rips Obama’s Hawaii Vacation (myfoxphoenix.com)

A Humbled American President on 9/11?… A picture says it all

A Tale of Two Presidents

President George W. Bush brought us through that Horrific Day with Grace and Dignity leading us forward and keeping us Safe everyday thereafter.  I remember the Comfort and Pride I felt when he said these words:

I hear you, the rest of the World hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!

President Bush gave us all a Hug that day…..

Updated to -26%: Obama’s Approval Rating Plummets (via Voting American)

June 22nd thru July 25th

Who’d A Thunk? Maybe Laughing and Joking about the dire outlook for our economy isn’t so funny for those of us who knew your plans for America were destructive instead of constructive  and are beginning to get involved and speak out against you Mr. President. Perhaps your War against Libya without Congressional Approval will bring about your Impeachment.  Perhaps your flagrant disregard for the Constitution of the Un … Read More

via Voting American

How Low can you Go?

2012 is coming…

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

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• Obama’s Freefall in the Polls -19% and Dropping…..can you hear us now? (votingamerican.wordpress.com)

Mr. President, We the People have not yet begun to fight (via Voting American)

Why the shocked look America? We have all watched as this Treasonous President has systematically been dismantling America’s economy and military defenses all the while dividing the American People over Race and Ideology. His announcement comes as no surprise to this writer as he attempts to surrender Israel to the mercies of an Islamic Jihad calling for the Death of Israel and America. All one has to do is look at the life of Barack Obama and hi … Read More

via Voting American

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• Obama’s Jihad against Israel and America (votingamerican.wordpress.com)
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• “If you voted for Obama in 2008 to prove you’re not a racist, you’ll have to vote for someone else in 2012 to prove you’re not an idiot.” (votingamerican.wordpress.com)
• America on Life Support….. The Obamada Syndrome (votingamerican.wordpress.com)
• The Courage to Stand…..with Israel (votingamerican.wordpress.com)