Obama '08?

@realjohnboy,

Anything is possible. Just struck me as really odd unless he was making a point about something though. Maybe he wants us to donate $2300 to Obama's next campaign?

Meanwhile, recession? What recession?

Quote:

Obamas Lease $20 Million Vacation Farm

A farm compound where the Clintons once dined will serve as the Obamas' summer vacation home in Martha's Vineyard late next month, according to a local newspaper.

The Vineyard Gazette reported Friday that the first family has leased the Blue Heron Farm, a 28.5-acre spread worth $20 million that offers a pool, golf tee and basketball court, along with a Victorian farm house. A reconstructed Pennsylvania barn and a Vermont shed there date to the

The rental agreement involves three leases, the paper said -- for the Obamas, for White House staff and for the Secret Service.

The rental terms allow First Dog Bo to join the family, according to the New While it's unknown exactly how much the Obamas paid, similar properties start at $35,000 a week.

Officials examined more than 20 properties before settling on the farm, the paper said.

In 1998, then-President Bill Clinton and then first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton attended a dinner party there with previous owners.
http://news.aol.com/article/obamas-lease-vacation-estate/588366?icid=main|htmlws-sb|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fobamas-lease-vacation-estate%2F588366

1 Reply

@Foxfyre,

Why are you so interested in what the Obama's does with their own money? Is it against the law or something we are not aware of?

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@cicerone imposter,

Is it their money paying the lease, or is it taxpayer money?

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@mysteryman,

mysteryman wrote:

Is it their money paying the lease, or is it taxpayer money?

valid question, does anyone know the answer?

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@dyslexia,

Dont let CI know that its a valid question, he doesnt think I can ask those.

1 Reply

@mysteryman,

well personally I think it is a valid question, I only hope there are valid answers rather than invalid suppositions. I also assume that I have no idea what the "normal protocol" is for presidential vacations.

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@dyslexia,

Yes, I do.

You are. President's vacations and housing for his security detail are expenses on the taxpayer.

1 Reply

@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Yes, I do.

You are. President's vacations and housing for his security detail are expenses on the taxpayer.

well, I suppose that security is an obvious taxpayer expense, I don't know more than that.

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@cicerone imposter,

Okay, so suppose he's paying with their own money, as you seem to assume. Similar properties are said to be going for $35,000/week. Per week!? That's about 1.8 million per year. He's better off than I suspected, not that there's anything wrong with that.

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@mysteryman,

mysteryman wrote:

Is it their money paying the lease, or is it taxpayer money?

I don't know and don't think there is any information out about that. If you take the wording in the short news story literally, the Obama's leased the property which would suggest they are paying for it instead of the government. But it could also infer that they just arranged for the lease. I don't think we can know one way or the other on this little bit of information. Certainly the expenses for transportion, Secret Service, etc. will be at taxpayer expense, but that is just part of the package.

However:
The President's salary is $400,000 per year, he gets a $50,000 monthly expense account, and a $100,000 non-taxable travel account plus $19,000 for entertainment, and I think even the leftwing media admitted that pricey night out on the town in New York City came out of these funds.

Somebody will dig it out though. The President has no privacy in such matters no matter who he is. Smile

It must sorta stick in the craw of those who have lost their savings, their jobs, their promotion, their opportunities, etc. in this recession though to hear that everybody has to do their part and make necessary sacrifices when they see that their leader doesn't seem to apply that teaching to himself.

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Is this the first president who has had his vacation expenses queried?

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@McTag,

Oh heck no. George Bush couldn't go to the loo without somebody questioning his misuse of taxpayer monies. Much less a vacation. (He did seem to take an awful lot of them.)

The only thing that makes it different now is that it is happening during the worst recession that we've had in many many decades.

1 Reply

@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Is this the first president who has had his vacation expenses queried?

well, it's certainly the first black/socialist/illegal alien president who has had his vacation expenses queried.

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I read the article in the Vineyard Gazette. It seemed to suggest that the Obama's will be there for one week in late August. Using Roger's number: $35,000. Paid for either with their own money or from his $50,000 allowance.
The cost of dragging along the needed staff of White House people? I don't know. I suspect that the White House has been given a budget by Congress and the cost would be charged to that account. Secret Security? They probably have a budget, but, I suspect, a rather flexible one based on the perceived threat to the President.
As I recall, President Bush spent a lot of time in Crawford, TX.

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@realjohnboy,

Quote:

As I recall, President Bush spent a lot of time in Crawford, TX.

But dont forget, Bush owned that land BEFORE he became POTUS.

1 Reply

@mysteryman,

But the greater cost, MM, would have been for housing staff and security, I would think.

1 Reply

@realjohnboy,

True, and I expect those to be at govt (taxpayer) expense.
However, if the President wants to lease a home, when he already has one in Chicago, that should NOT be at our expense.
It should come out of his wallet, not mine and yours.

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@realjohnboy,

realjohnboy wrote:

I read the article in the Vineyard Gazette. It seemed to suggest that the Obama's will be there for one week in late August. Using Roger's number: $35,000. Paid for either with their own money or from his $50,000 allowance.
The cost of dragging along the needed staff of White House people? I don't know. I suspect that the White House has been given a budget by Congress and the cost would be charged to that account. Secret Security? They probably have a budget, but, I suspect, a rather flexible one based on the perceived threat to the President.
As I recall, President Bush spent a lot of time in Crawford, TX.

Yes, but he didn't have to pay any rent to to that. And he usually took key members of his staff along and most of that time they were working.

But Clinton and Obama don't own vacation homes like Reagan, George H W Bush did, and George W. Bush apparently preferred to be home in Crawford than anywhere else. I don't fault them for needing to get away. It's just that a vacation that would normally be available to the very rich is going to be criticized when it happens during a period of unusually hard times for the American people.

And the people shouldn't have to foot the bill for it more than is necessary to support the President at any time.

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@Foxfyre,

The worst recession created by GW Bush. It didn't seem too important to conservatives when Bush spent taxpayer money while he increased the national debt. I believe there's a name for that! Hypocrisy.

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I don't know if anyone has posted this yet but apparently Obama has held out a olive branch for to Gates and the Crowley (the arresting officer) to come and meld things with a beer.

I did not see this coming.

Beer for president 2016.

T
K
O

1 Reply

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