| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
|
Locked on 10/05/2011 2:06:22 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator, reason:
Sorry Nachum |
Posted on 10/05/2011 2:02:56 PM PDT by Nachum
A fight has broken out between the White House, its defenders and a conservative public watchdog group over first lady Michelle Obama's travel costs and how they are calculated. The dispute stems from a Judicial Watch release yesterday, reported by Whispers, that said the first lady's June goodwill mission to Africa cost $424,142 just for her Air Force C32A.
Judicial Watch said it used Pentagon calculations to come up with the price to taxpayers, multiplying the hourly cost of $12,188 by the number of flight hours, 34.8.
[Read: Michelle Obama's Africa Trip Cost More than $424,142.]
The White House later said that the costs used were exaggerated and included elements typically not included in calculating flight costs.
"The number stated is misconstrued and out of context. The hourly rate is not the marginal cost of operating the plane—it is an accounting figure that prices in a number of fixed costs from maintaining the Air Force fleet for this kind of plane over a year. For example, it includes estimated replacement parts, depreciation, repairs, and costs that would have been incurred regardless of this flight," said an official.
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
You lost by 17 seconds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.