Baier ignores precedents, hypes cost of Obamas' NYC trip
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SUMMARY: Bret Baier reported "aircraft expenses for" the Obamas' trip to New York City "cost you at least $24,000" but did not note that such use of taxpayer funds for private travel by the first family is typical.
On the June 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report, reporting on the Obamas' May 30 personal visit to New York City, anchor Bret Baier stated that according to a May 31 New York Post article promoted by Internet gossip Matt Drudge, "aircraft expenses for the date cost you at least $24,000." Prior to his report, Baier promoted the story in two teasers, each of which highlighted the cost of the trip. But like Drudge and the Post, at no point did Baier note that such use of taxpayer funds for private travel by the first family is typical; former President George W. Bush, for example, reportedly used Air Force One for trips to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, which he reportedly visited 77 times over the course of his eight years in office.
As Kenneth T. Walsh noted in a June 1 U.S. News & World Report article about Republican criticism of the Obamas' trip, "For many years, presidents have used government transportation, and spent taxpayers' money, for personal trips." Walsh continued:
George W. Bush, for example, traveled frequently to his Texas ranch for vacations and R&R. Bill Clinton went to Martha's Vineyard for vacations in the summer. George H.W. Bush often traveled to his retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, for breaks from Washington.
The opposition party sometimes jumps on these trips and argues that the president is being extravagant or sending the wrong signal of self-indulgence to the country. That's what's happening to [President] Obama now.
Similarly, during a discussion of Republican criticism of the Obamas' trip on the June 1 edition of MSNBC Live, New York Observer national correspondent Joe Conason said of the trip: "[T]his is what the presidency is." He continued: "When the president travels -- as George Bush did, as Bill Clinton did, as presidents have, you know, throughout history -- the government pays to keep them safe, to keep their communication secure. This is just -- this is part of the job."
As Media Matters for America documented, several media outlets and figures advanced false comparisons of the total costs of Obama's inauguration and Bush's 2005 inauguration, misrepresenting Obama's as more expensive. Those outlets used figures that excluded security, transportation, and other incidental costs to federal, state, and local governments incurred in conjunction with the events in 2005, while including them in the projections for the 2009 event.
From the June 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier:
BAIER: From Wall Street to Broadway, and the money it took to pay for the first couple's date night.
[...]
BAIER: And the president takes the first lady out on the town, thanks to some help from you.
[...]
BAIER: President Obama delivered a campaign promise -- delivered on a campaign promise Saturday to, really, his most important constituency: his wife. He took the first lady to dinner and a Broadway show in New York. The cost of the meal and theater tickets were paid for by the president, but the White House has declined to say how much the rest of the trip cost taxpayers. The New York Post reports that aircraft expenses for the date cost you at least $24,000. The Obamas flew into JFK Airport on a smaller Gulfstream 500 plane instead of the larger version of Air Force One, and then took the Marine One helicopter to Manhattan. They dined at a Greenwich Village restaurant before taking in the play Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
"President Obama took Michelle to dinner and a Broadway show in New York. A rag owned by rupert murdoch reports that aircraft expenses for the date cost you at least $24,000."
"Cost who 24 grand? Me?"
"Yeah, you."
"I have no problem with that... where's the requisition, gimme it, I'll sign it now."
President Obama is by far the hardest working President the American People have had in the last eight years, and he's doing historic things, he's cleaning up messes that were left for him that are unlike anything any U.S. President has ever inherited and been obligated to deal with... if the man wants to jet off for a weekend break from it all, fine... maybe he and Michelle might want to go to the Florida Keys to relax for a weekend, fine... Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod or Cape Hatteras, Myrtle Beach, even Disney World with the girls, fine.
It's nice to reward yourself and your wife and your family with a little getaway fun and relaxation, after working overtime all week long, especially when most of it is cleaning up someone else's mess, and especially when the many hacks and minions of that someone else, they back-bite you and call you names the whole time you're working your tail off getting it all done.
24 grand?
No problem, the President and Michelle can take off for a night or two, we'll keep an eye on the country...
Chit, if I could, I'd double or even triple what the man is making in salary...
Doing what he's doing for the American People, he's probably right now the most underpaid man in America... True!
He's working so hard and doing so well, I'd bump his salary tenfold, he's worth every penny!
"Where's the requisition, gimme it, I'll sigh now!"
[And don't think for a moment what I just typed out is the least bit facetious or sarcastic or whatever, because it's not, it's the absolute truth : the man and his wife too, they deserve every moment of fun and/or relaxation they can get, they're doing such hard work and doing it so well... True.]
This stuff is already in the budget.
What's that amount to?
Anybody got change for a penny? I want my share back now!
George W. Bush took an entire month off, and we lost the World Trade Center and several of our civil liberties, including those specified in the Magna Carta, a document almost 800 years old.
Hey, Baier, how much did that cost the country?
During that time, he was shown a Presidential Daily Briefing entitled "bin Laden Determined to Strike in US." His response to the person who delivered that briefing? "OK, you've covered your ass now."
George W Bush, arguably the laziest man ever to hole the position of President of the United States, did not. As a result, the WTC was lost.
And yes, I really do believe that. I saw it in the newspapers of the time. I am sorry you do not, because you become just another wingnut trying to rewrite history when you say otherwise.
Personally I think it is more than likely The Post came up with that (politically useful) figure just so Republicans could use it against Obama. The Obama administration did not release the actual cost of the flight.
You can bet every Republican will be repeating that exact $24,000 dollar amount over and over to try and hammer home their message.
President Obama, speech on GM's bankruptcy June 1 2009
Yet you justify his $24K night out, saying other POTUS' had thier time off, or it was already budgeted. ( government fiscal year starts on October 1; date night couldn't have been foreseen in the previous administration, it was therefore NOT budgeted for )
You also have to take into consideration that other POTUS' didn't have this economic problem, nor were they preaching sacrifice, a sacrifice he apparently is unwilling to make himself.
Dem02020
What you fail acknowledge and the media refuses to report on is this POTUS in his community organizer roll was a major player helping to cause this economic situation. Wallstreet journal
Consider all of the facts before you "sign" that voucher, it may come directly out of YOUR pocket.
So; The only ridiculous and petty fools here are the ones who are NOT looking at the facts in a logical manner, and are viewing this through the "Rosy Glasses" of blind admiration.
NG_Officer: Rememeber, W wasn't telling you at the time, "You have to sacrifice", then going out and having a party.
The whole point of this, if it wasn't so obvious is that this POTUS is telling everyone THEY must sacrifice, then he goes out and spends $24k+ on a night out and that only included the air fare, it doesn't include the added security necessary to keep a POTUS safe while traveling. Or the cost to citizens he inconvienced while tying up traffic.
That's the problem. He SHOULD have told the public that during a time of "war", sacrifices should be made by everyone, not just the military and their families.
Instead he told us to go shopping. And then went out on a cross country pro-war propaganda tour. How much do you think that cost?
These items are, in fact, provided for in the White House Budget. Do you think W used the entire (See? I can use bold, too) fiscal year budget line item in three months? If you do, then you're much more stupid than you see us as being.
I haven't used bold before. I hope everyone finds it more convincing than it would be otherwise. Next time, I am going to really get serious about some exclamation points.
Did you even bother to read your own link? It's about ACORN, and has nothing to do with the financial crisis.
Feel free to try again, though... you're very amusing to watch.
What you fail acknowledge and the media refuses to report on is this POTUS in his community organizer roll was a major player helping to cause this economic situation.
What a laugher. And what YOU FAIL AT, MISERABLY, is to povide ANY evidence WHATSOEVER to back up this assertation. And the article you link to does nothing of the sort. Just more ACORN=EVIL, guilt by association nonsense. It does not even try to claim that ACORN or OBAMA are somehow at fault for "this economic situation." How the HELL did Obama or Acorn cause the BANKS TO FAIL?! (I though even your lot blamed that on Dodd and Frank?!)
You criticise posters for using attacks ratehr than facts, but you prvoide no facts yourself. (Hypocrite.)
You talk about "rose colored galsses." Maybe YOU should take of the t*rd colored glasses YOU'RE wearing when you look at this country and it's president.
Wonder what will come out of El-Rusbo's mouth on this one? Can hardly wait for the Limbaugh Wire today!
While we're looking at expenses, let's look at every little thing spent by the White House. How much does security cost each day? How much for electricity, transportation and maintenance?
I'll bet that, in the big picture of monthly White House expenses, $24,000 is a paltry sum.
Oh, by the way... how much are we paying for Dick Cheney's security as he toodles around the country defending torture?
Watch the Documentary Iraq for Sale... the money being wasted over there is obscene. That's probably true of most wars, but the additional insult is that so much of it went into the pockets of private contractors.
Is that documentary on TV or in video? I'd like to watch it.
On the plus side, most of that money that went to contractors probably was spent here in the United States. I seem to recall a bunch of you claiming that was good for the economy. :-)
You're right... much of the money spent in Iraq trickles its way back into our economy, and war spending can be very stimulative, as we saw during WWII.
However, it is not the most cost-effective way to stimulate the economy. For example, you could spend 50 million dollars blowing things up in Iraq, and all you've got to show is the money paid to the bomb builders. On the other hand, if you spend that same 50 million building a school or a bridge, you employ the builders, the ongoing staff, and you've given the community a lasting asset. See? That's not difficult to grasp, is it?