Posted on 12/26/2012 7:08:35 AM PST by crosshairs
President Obama will return to Washington from Hawaii Thursday while First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters plan to continue their vacation, adding at least $100,000 and probably more than $200,000 to taxpayer costs for the excursion.
Instead of accompanying her husband home on Air Force One, Mrs. Obama will fly on her own Air Force jet at a later date and require security and staff to remain in place in Hawaii for the length of her stay, which reportedly could extend until January 6.
The White House does not reveal the price tag for the Obamas vacations. But an estimate can be made given several known and likely expenses.
Assuming Mrs. Obama uses the type of plane she has flown before to Hawaii, the Air Force C-40B Special Mission Aircraft, the cost of a flight from Honolulu to Washington would be about $63,000. If the C-40B must be flown out to Hawaii to retrieve Mrs. Obama, as would seem likely, the first ladys travel costs could amount to about $126,000, assuming the jet is dispatched from Washington.
And the cost would be much higher still if a supply-carrying cargo jet comes home along with Michelle in addition to the cargo jet that accompanies Air Force One particularly if that jet too must be flown out to Hawaii just for Mrs. Obama.
Once you throw in the tens of thousands of dollars that must be dished out to house, pay, and support the military and Secret Service assets enlisted to protect Mrs. Obama as well as other support staff the price tag for her stay is probably in excess of $200,000, and possibly much more, depending on how long she remains on vacation.
Mrs. Obama flew to Hawaii separately from the president in 2010 and 2011, in those cases leaving early with the family while he finished work with Congress and then joined them for the remainder of the vacation.
If Obama strikes an early deal on the fiscal cliff and then returns to Hawaii to finish up his vacation, the tab for taxpayers would be extraordinary. Air Force One costs about $180,000 an hour to fly, and the roundtrip taxpayer-funded ticket for the nine-hour flight would amount to about $3.24 million.
Obama plans to fly out of Hawaii Wednesday night at about 10:00 pm local time, which would get him to the White House at around 12:30 pm ET on Thursday.
I’d authorize $200K if Shelly and her devil’s spawn would STAY at a remote island location FOREVER, and keep her damned piehole shut. It would be money well spent.
Did they take the dog in a separate plane?
Where the hell is a Tsunami when you really need one!?
Anyone here remember going on a luxury Christmas vacation EVERY YEAR when you were a kid??
We stayed home and visited relatives and played in the snow....BIG forts....BIG snowball wars from our well stocked fort. Didn't cost us a dime!!
What a blast my youth was....
I read that Ronald Reagan used to stay in DC so his staff and secret service could be close to their families over the holidays
compare
Crawford ranch was Bush’s family HOME and the “western White House” where he did business and entertained foreign dignitaries...and where his daughter chose to be married
it was not a rented megamansion by the sea
Bunch of grifters.
5.56mm
Look at it this way, it isn’t real money anymore, just electronic chips created by The Bernank and Turbo Timmy.
The funny things, they both have family, and except for Mother Robinson (who is chained to a radiator in the attic), they seem to avoid them all. Don’t normal people sometimes spend holidays with their family? They are the most un-American family ever to inhabit the White House.
Apart from that - anything you read from MM is regurgitated pukeage.
I doubt many schools anywhere in the US are open this week.
Kwanzaa/Ramadan/Festivus vacation period.
Where is this spending authorized?
I mean, I know most of these military personel are full-time paid employees no matter where they are, but under what authorization is vacation money other than that allocated and approved?
Is there at least a budget?
Our idea of a vacation was taking a day trip on the train from Rochester to Niagara Falls. My Dad worked on the NY Central, and had a rail pass for himself and his family. We didn't own a car, so either walked or took the bus when we wanted to go anywhere.
Real vacations were non-existent to us back then. In fact, I don't think I ever went on a vacation until after my kids were older, and I was divorced. One time we drove to Washington D.C. for a week. Another time we took the train to NY City for a few days.
Coordinating your schedules and flying together to your luxury vacation destination is sooooooo for the little people.
Well, why all the guarding? Why don’t they start that assault rifle ban right there in Hawaii, starting with all the SS surrounding the Griftwolds ... ?
Will sequestration of our military budget include WH first family travel?
There is no other reason for democrats to seek public office except to exploit the perks of that office at the expense of the taxpayer.
And if you call them on it, of course, you’re a “racist”.
Space A would solve lots of problems.
Force the White House to live on a budget.
Every penny spent on their vacations is deducted from their living expenses. If they go overbudget, garnish their wages, to be paid back within a 5 year period.
I don’t mind the guards and I don’t grouse about the expense;we live in a world where our leaders are targets. But...
“Every time they go on a boondoggle, Moochie takes separate flights.”
Is there something islamic about that? That they don’t travel together?
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