Come on folks! Any AF1 is an "Air Force Jet." I see nothing wrong with a President utilizing one of the smaller jets in the fleet, also equipped with his communications and security stuff, if it is suitable for his purpose. Almost anything is cheaper than flying a 747 for two people.
As for Dubya, do you think he ever flew up to Maine to have dinner with his folks? I don't know if he ever came up to NYC for a show, but I'm pretty certain that the Slickster did. I think the Reagans attended an opera or two here. There's a lot, REALLY A LOT, to criticize Obama for but coming to NYC every six months or so, and possibly generating interest in the things he does or the places he visits is not one of them. The restaurant where he ate and the theater he attended are owned by capitalists who are going to see increased business due to his visit.
ML/NJ
Taxpayers are on the hook for an extra $55,000 a household to cover rising federal commitments made just in the past year for retirement benefits, the national debt and other government promises, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The 12% rise in red ink in 2008 stems from an explosion of federal borrowing during the recession, plus an aging population driving up the costs of Medicare and Social Security. That's the biggest leap in the long-term burden on taxpayers since a Medicare prescription drug benefit was added in 2003. The latest increase raises federal obligations to a record $546,668 per household in 2008, according to the USA TODAY analysis. That's quadruple what the average U.S. household owes for all mortgages, car loans, credit cards and other debt combined. "We have a huge implicit mortgage on every household in America — except, unlike a real mortgage, it's not backed up by a house," says David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general, the government's top auditor.
I agree with you that Republicans look petty criticizing Obama for his taxpayer-funded night in the Big Apple. The media should be doing this. And God only knows they would be if this were a Republican president. Have you forgotten how Nancy Reagan was crucified by the media for replacing the White House china during economic hard times? And she did that at no expense to the taxpayers.
It’s the double standard that makes this so infuriating. And for those of us in the Detroit area, seeing them chauffeured in a Cadillac on the eve of GM’s bankruptcy is just too much to bear.
The problem with the Duh-Bama’s using taxpayer money for a date night is that duh-bama’s policies have turned a mild recession into a recession bordering on depression.
PLUS, he was just in Las Vegas and California a few days ago.
PLUS, we (the taxpayers) paid for a “date night” for the brown clown’s on Feb. 14th.
I’m struggling to pay my bills and taxes and they spend HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of taxpayers hard-earned money on a freaking DATE???????????????????????