Althouse: "[W]hile the costs of Obama’s travel fall on all sorts of people..."

October 26, 2009

"[W]hile the costs of Obama’s travel fall on all sorts of people..."

"... the benefits go where Obama steers them."

35 comments:

Rialby said...: Does Obama understand how badly this Berlin-skipping move makes him look?

Does he care?; 10/26/09, 10:54 AM
Peter Hoh said...: Could you steer me to just one instapundit post that looked at the cost of Bush's travel for fundraising and/or brush clearing purchases?; 10/26/09, 10:58 AM
garage mahal said...: He's always up to something, that Obama!; 10/26/09, 11:02 AM
hombre said...: Nerobama fiddles while Rome burns.; 10/26/09, 11:05 AM
kjbe said...: Yes, Peter, I'm not a sensing genuine concern, here.; 10/26/09, 11:06 AM
Peter Hoh said...: purposes, not purchases.; 10/26/09, 11:07 AM
Alex said...: garage :

He's always up to something, that Obama!

Did you ever give Dubya a break for 8 years? Stop the hypocrisy. If we want to bash Obama 24/7 that is our right.; 10/26/09, 11:09 AM
MadisonMan said...: Needs an 'Obama is like Bush' tag.; 10/26/09, 11:11 AM
hombre said...: Could you steer me to just one instapundit post that looked at the cost of Bush's travel ....

Yes. By all means do so, Professor. Even-handedness is called for when looking at Peter's President, however galling his hypocrisy.; 10/26/09, 11:12 AM
J. Cricket said...: Actually, it needs an "Obama is like every other president because he is president" tag.; 10/26/09, 11:13 AM
John said...: Obama has played more golf in 8 months than Bush played in 8 years.

http://dyn.politico.com/members/forums/thread.cfm?catid=17&subcatid=58&threadid=3208226

He plays golf. Goes to fund raisers. Struts around the world proclaiming "I Won", the "The US is sorry" and of course "Its all Bush's fault". Meanwhile 14 soldiers died yesterday in Afghanistan. Unemploytment is at 10%. And the economy shows no signs of getting out of the recession.

Obama is weak, arrogant and shallow. He is everything the left claimed Bush was. Worst President ever.; 10/26/09, 11:22 AM
Balfegor said...: Actually, it needs an "Obama is like every other president because he is president" tag.

Yes -- I don't think there's much of a scandal in the mere fact that Presidential travel is expensive and hugely disruptive for the people unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end.

On the other hand, I'm a little curious about what the regulations are for the President taking official time to headline this or that fundraiser for a political candidate. I know both Bush II and Clinton did it all the time. Are there no regulations there? After all, the late Noh Moohyun, sometime President of the Republic of Korea, was impeached for engaging in (frankly, fairly mild) politicking while President.; 10/26/09, 11:24 AM
Phil 314 said...: I have one word why video-conferencing wouldn't work:
photo-op; 10/26/09, 11:25 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: It must be great to be able to market yourself as something new and different without actually having to do anything new or different.; 10/26/09, 11:28 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Could you steer me to just one instapundit post that looked at the cost of Bush's travel for fundraising and/or brush clearing purchases?

Wasn't Obama supposed to be the anti-Bush?

Or was all that just campaign bullshit and it's more of the same instead of change?; 10/26/09, 11:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Could you steer me to just one instapundit post that looked at the cost of Bush's travel for fundraising and/or brush clearing purchases?

Bush didn't claim to care about doing the right thing, so it doesn't matter if he did! Or something.; 10/26/09, 11:31 AM
Triangle Man said...: President is acting presidential, film at 11. Travel is expensive and inconvenient, our special three part series starts at 6.

Meanwhile Fox News thinks the National Endowment for the Humanities funding is a problem.; 10/26/09, 11:32 AM
Anonymous said...: I'd like to see this become an issue no matter which way the Obama-Bush comparison comes out. It's hard to overstate the amount of disruption these presidential visits cause, even if you confine yourself to the effect on aviation alone.; 10/26/09, 11:33 AM
Roger J. said...: Seems to me any presidential travel is going to be expensive--I dont get too exercised when president's travel, although my personal preference would be to keep them tethered more closely to the white house.

Is Obama a fraud? at least as measured by what he prommised on the stump and what he has delivered? no doubt in my mind, but I knew that going in and didnt vote for him. If the obama supporters are just now coming to grips with reality? welcome home.; 10/26/09, 11:34 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I heard this story. When Obama went to West Coast last week, the trip had one purpose- to raise funds. They parked Air Force One at SFO and cordoned off a corner of the airport for 24-36 hours. This essentially shut down the operations of a small flight business in that part of the airport. So the flight business sent a bill to the White House.

I was surprised that they did not park the Prez plane at a nearby military base? But I assume Obama's sense of entitlement and arrogance was part of the decision.; 10/26/09, 11:36 AM
Bissage said...: What’s worse is all the money the President has spent on fine ointment, brand new and expensive, that should have been saved for the poor.

Why has it been wasted? We could have raised, maybe, three hundred silver pieces, or more.

Mr. President, people who are hungry, people who are starving, matter more than your feet and hair!

Signed,
A Concerned Citizen; 10/26/09, 11:37 AM
kentuckyliz said...: What's with the "Well so do you!" turnabout on Bush?

Link me any article anywhere showing Bush to be a Green poser, leading to the hypocrisy charge.

"So there!"; 10/26/09, 11:38 AM
Rialby said...: I wouldn't give two figs if Barack Obama spent every gd night of his doomed presidency in every Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton and Fairmont hotel in the world.

It's the following that's going to get him criticized from the right:

* Where is he travelling and why? Did he need to jet off to Copenhagen to try to win the Olympics for his cronies?
* How can the Left support all this travel when they tell us average schlubs that we need to buy carbon credits even when we fly coach from Dubuque to Denver?; 10/26/09, 11:38 AM
Balfegor said...: I have one word why video-conferencing wouldn't work:
photo-op.

ECCE PHOTOSHOP!; 10/26/09, 11:38 AM
kentuckyliz said...: Bissage: I love JCS! That was my catechism in the 70s.

(Note no Easter resurrection....); 10/26/09, 11:39 AM
Titus said...: Dear fellow republicans and lovers of the Bush Doctrine and haters of everything Obama Hussein, I am with you in total contempt for Obama's travels.

And Bush's travels were nothing compared to that awful Obama Hussein.

Thank you.; 10/26/09, 11:43 AM
Anonymous said...: I don't think there's much of a scandal in the mere fact that Presidential travel is expensive and hugely disruptive for the people unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end.

No indeed. There's only a scandal if the President acts like it doesn't matter.; 10/26/09, 11:45 AM
former law student said...: Trying to get downtown once, I was shocked to find that the inbound Kennedy was blocked off so that Jimmy Carter could ride unscathed. Damn those Presidents and their arrogance! Who did Carter think he was, Gerald Ford?; 10/26/09, 11:45 AM
David said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/26/09, 12:04 PM
David said...: Obama enjoys the perks of office. Right now he can take advantage of them without much worry of a hostile press. That could change,

Here is a list of the Presidents in my lifetime who seemed to especially enjoy the perks of office:

JFK
Reagan
Carter
Clinton
George W. Bush (mostly Camp David and visiting the troops)
Eisenhower (the perks were different then but he made much of them, particularly Augusta National)
Obama

Much was made of the silly uniforms Nixon put on some White House guards but he was pretty restrained in enjoying the perks--not a social guy.

LBJ enjoyed very little about being President. Strange, since it was the thing he wanted most in life.

Ford didn't have much fun--he would trip and fall or some wacko woman would point a gun at him.

Harry Truman seemed to enjoy the perks the least--he was a plain and simple man--and a hell of a good President.

All of Washington is now enamored of their grandiosity, power and importance. They are wasteful, clownish, fundamentally dishonest in their dealings with the public. We should throw them all out but they have rigged the election laws to make this very difficult.; 10/26/09, 12:07 PM
Unknown said...: Rialby said...

Does Obama understand how badly this Berlin-skipping move makes him look?

Does he care?

No on both counts.

Keep in mind that Berlin is Angie Merkel's party and she saw through him from the start. He won't do anything to make her look good.

kentuckyliz said...

What's with the "Well so do you!" turnabout on Bush?

Link me any article anywhere showing Bush to be a Green poser, leading to the hypocrisy charge.

"So there!"

No to mention GayPositive (listening Titus?), forceful on A-stan, etc.

As Rush said, all of Bambi's statements have an expiration date.

WV "unate" What the un consumed.; 10/26/09, 12:40 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: ... and in return the President will agree to stay at his desk and work.

As expensive as presidential travel may be, it is nothing compared to the cost of his agenda. If traveling around the world prevents him from accomplishing his goals, it is money well spent; 10/26/09, 2:06 PM
Shanna said...: Actually, it needs an "Obama is like every other president because he is president" tag.

Yes, I think it’s petty to quibble over dollars spent doing this or that, since that’s just what happens when you are president.
It does seem like Obama has had a lot of vacations rather quickly and politically it may not be smart to be seen living it up when the economy is in the toilet, but I’m not going to gripe about the money. Or at least, not that money. All the other spending is on the table.; 10/26/09, 2:08 PM
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Please visited my blog http://allbalivacation.blogspot.com; 10/26/09, 4:02 PM
Unknown said...: There's still a chance that Obama will dash to Copenhagen just in time to charm the attendees into taking the virtuous action we need to heal the planet and stop the oceans' rise.; 10/26/09, 5:10 PM