Same question.Originally posted by: loki8481
he could have waited until he had to be in NYC anyways.
Originally posted by: her209
How does this cut down on the cost of security?Originally posted by: ProfJohn
No, Obama should have taken his wife to a show in DC or waited till he was in NYC on official business and then taken her to see the show.
Originally posted by: Phokus
I heard Obama has the audacity to use 2 PLY toilet paper instead of 1 ply, why does Obama want to rob america??!?!?!
Originally posted by: loki8481
Originally posted by: ericlp
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Oh... I should point out that Obama paid for dinner and the theater tickets. We just paid for the security, and planes and helicopters and limos etc etc etc.
Trolling much?
What do you F'ing expect? Do you think when bush goes on vacation to his stupid ranch he takes a gray hound and leaves his security behind? How stupid can you get?
Wherever a president goes he's gonna get the red carpet treatment and it's a given ... Security will go with him WHEREVER he goes... Do you use your brain much or are you just figuring this out? This happens for EVERY US president this just isn't spacial treatment for Obama only.
Even with Miss's O goes out she has her own security team to go with her. Dude. Wake up already these posts are getting really old. We know you don't like Obama but can you post something else that "EVERYONE" else doesn't know about? Even first graders know this!
What's next are you gonna tell us he got the best free health care and dental? How much is that costing us to get a crown? All this time I thought you held a degree in something.
he could have waited until he had to be in NYC anyways.
Originally posted by: JSt0rm01
Originally posted by: eleison
"Spending money they do not have"... I guess its okay for the government to spend because they have a magic money printing machine... Its not like the government is in debt or anything. Heck, what did the Chinese say about government spending? How big is the deficit.. how big is the projected deficit.. OH, its okay.. thats just Barry.. he's helping the economy.. Remember kids, he's the Messiah. Do as he says, not do as he does... Hypocrite.
you're really mad about this? I laugh at your face. We tortured people until they became insane and this is what your mad about?
Originally posted by: JSt0rm01
Originally posted by: loki8481
he could have waited until he had to be in NYC anyways.
it says reservations are hard to get. Come on.
Originally posted by: ericlp
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
No, Obama should have taken his wife to a show in DC or waited till he was in NYC on official business and then taken her to see the show.Originally posted by: her209
Obama should have brought Broadway to the White House is what you're saying?Originally posted by: tk149
Obama is demanding that Americans tighten their belts, yet spends taxpayer money on extravagant trips. I suspect the White House is on par with a 5-star hotel or better. It's not like he's hurting. Is this not hypocritical?
Why??? When you become president and you want to go to NYC for the weekend or day trip or whatever are they just gonna say well you can't go because there plenty to do in DC and cost's too much? Suck it up. The president should be able to go wherever and whenever he wants to ... I hope he takes weekly jaunts around the nation for the next 3.5 years just to piss you off. And why couldn't he? Maybe he'll take the entire family?
Dude... I bet bush went out a few hundred times and spent the same amount of money and no one cared why? Cause NO ONE gave a shit what bush did...That's why.
Ah yes... haircut = going to a Broadway show. Everyone knows this. It cannot be denied.Originally posted by: Fear No Evil
Its obvious there is no spending by the democrat party that people in this forum are against. Lets ask this.. would it be OK for Obama to fly AF1 to IL to get a haircut, turn around and come back 1 hour later? Would that be wasteful?
Originally posted by: eleison
Originally posted by: Desturel
Originally posted by: eleison
Well then why is Obama telling everyone to "tighten their belts"? Does the rules not apply to him? Why was he criticizing the CEO's about their extravagant lifestyle -- wasting natural resource flying everywhere, but yet its okay for him?
The big difference is that the CEO's and the people who are tightening their belts are people who are spending money they do not have. Stop using credit for things you can't afford. On the other hand if you have money, then don't be afraid to spend it.
The CEO's where coming to D.C. to beg for money in their private jets. The average American spends more money than they make and are in debt. There is a difference between being extravagant with money you don't have and being extravagant with money you do have.
As for the president's travel arrangements, I doubt he has total control over how he travels. He gives his security advisers his itinerary. They decide the travel methods that they are comfortable with. He can of course ignore their advice, but I doubt he does so too often. Shouldn't your hate be targeted at the security advisers who suggested he travel with a detail instead of going by hybrid car or train?
The biggest example of him ignoring his security detail that I can think of so far was probably on Inauguration Day when he got out of the car early to walk the route to the White House. You could see the SS agents butts puckering when he did that and no doubt he got a talking to for that one.
"Spending money they do not have"... I guess its okay for the government to spend because they have a magic money printing machine... Its not like the government is in debt or anything. Heck, what did the Chinese say about government spending? How big is the deficit.. how big is the projected deficit.. OH, its okay.. thats just Barry.. he's helping the economy.. Remember kids, he's the Messiah. Do as he says, not do as he does... Hypocrite.
Originally posted by: Fear No Evil
Its obvious there is no spending by the democrat party that people in this forum are against. Lets ask this.. would it be OK for Obama to fly AF1 to IL to get a haircut, turn around and come back 1 hour later? Would that be wasteful?
Originally posted by: Fear No Evil
Maybe we need to take spending like this and put it into terms Anandtech democrats can understand. How long would Anandtech be able to run its operations using the money Obama cost the tax payers by taking this trip? Again, lets disregard if it was appropriate he took the trip or not.. who cares..
But what about this.. what if Obama, by not taking the trip, could have saved the jobs of 4 auto workers for a year with the money.. Would that change your mind?
Originally posted by: CitizenKain
Originally posted by: Fear No Evil
Maybe we need to take spending like this and put it into terms Anandtech democrats can understand. How long would Anandtech be able to run its operations using the money Obama cost the tax payers by taking this trip? Again, lets disregard if it was appropriate he took the trip or not.. who cares..
But what about this.. what if Obama, by not taking the trip, could have saved the jobs of 4 auto workers for a year with the money.. Would that change your mind?
We need to put things in terms that Anandtech republicans and understand, but you can't write posts on this forum in crayon with simple pictures.
Originally posted by: TruePaige
Wait, you are criticizing Obama for not staying on vacation LONGER? Sorry if you aren't used to a President rushing to get back to the White House and do some work.
Originally posted by: loki8481
Originally posted by: Phokus
Obama doesn't take extended vacations to the extent Bush does because he's not like your typical lazy silver-spoon-in-mouth republican douchebag like bush is. He's working his ASS off for this country.
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Originally posted by: eleison
"Spending money they do not have"... I guess its okay for the government to spend because they have a magic money printing machine.
Originally posted by: Dari
STFU please. He's the President. You telling me he isn't allowed to take his wife out? And if he wanted to, do you think the Secret Service would let him take a commercial jet?
Originally posted by: Desturel
Originally posted by: eleison
"Spending money they do not have"... I guess its okay for the government to spend because they have a magic money printing machine.
Travel and security expenses are part of the President's travel anywhere. The president spent his own money on his food and entertainment. So your entire argument is based solely on how much it costs to transport a president from one location to another.
The security detail assigned to the president get paid a salary. This expense is incurred if the president is traveling to New York or taking a dump in the White House bathroom. So the security part of the equation is null. Take all of that money estimated out.
So all of this hoopla is about the cost of jet fuel vs. the cost of a train ticket. Of course you don't consider that before the president could board the train, the route would need to be secured as opposed to when he is traveling via his jet where only the beginning and end destination would have to be secured.
Not only that, but at least two compartments of the train would need to be sectioned off for the president meaning inconveniencing passengers that were set to travel on that day. This is an extra expense, believe it or not, as it is likely that a new trip would need to be scheduled for the customers that were inconvenienced by the president's travel plans. That extra expense can easily exceed the costs of jet fuel to New York. The last I checked, the operation costs per trip for a train was around 5000~6000 usd, but I don't feel like looking it up right now. If anyone cares to correct my numbers, please do.
Air Force One is a VC-25 IIRC which consumes around 3,400 gals of fuel for a trip to New York. At 170 cts/gal for fuel (from iata) that comes out to around $5780. This is about the same as the operating cost of a commuter train for a single trip. Of course you could get a better estimate by using the fuel consumption calculator.
Then there's the time factor. A trip from Union Station to Penn Station is about 3 hours. Driving from D.C. to New York by car can be anywhere from 4:30 to 8 hours depending on traffic (I've been on both sides of that equation traveling to NY). A jet from D.C. to NY is about an hour. The president saves anywhere from 2 hours to 7 hours one way by taking his jet vs. alternate options.
The cost of the trip is about equal to taking the train since the only mitigating factor is jet fuel costs vs. the costs of the entire train operation (the president doesn't own the train, he's buying space on the train). The cost of driving is cheaper, however the travel time is expanded to such a degree that is costs more in man hours than it would have to just fly there. Depending on what other things the president had to do that day, who's to say he could afford the extra time round trip.
In short, I can't understand why you believe extra money would need to be printed for this trip.
Originally posted by: jman19
Originally posted by: loki8481
Originally posted by: Phokus
Obama doesn't take extended vacations to the extent Bush does because he's not like your typical lazy silver-spoon-in-mouth republican douchebag like bush is. He's working his ASS off for this country.
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LOL, you're the one who brought up other threads about Palin spending money on clothing, and you're saying he strayed from the thread?
Nice post.Originally posted by: Desturel
Travel and security expenses are part of the President's travel anywhere. The president spent his own money on his food and entertainment. So your entire argument is based solely on how much it costs to transport a president from one location to another.Originally posted by: eleison
"Spending money they do not have"... I guess its okay for the government to spend because they have a magic money printing machine.
The security detail assigned to the president get paid a salary. This expense is incurred if the president is traveling to New York or taking a dump in the White House bathroom. So the security part of the equation is null. Take all of that money estimated out.
So all of this hoopla is about the cost of jet fuel vs. the cost of a train ticket. Of course you don't consider that before the president could board the train, the route would need to be secured as opposed to when he is traveling via his jet where only the beginning and end destination would have to be secured.
Not only that, but at least two compartments of the train would need to be sectioned off for the president meaning inconveniencing passengers that were set to travel on that day. This is an extra expense, believe it or not, as it is likely that a new trip would need to be scheduled for the customers that were inconvenienced by the president's travel plans. That extra expense can easily exceed the costs of jet fuel to New York. The last I checked, the operation costs per trip for a train was around 5000~6000 usd, but I don't feel like looking it up right now. If anyone cares to correct my numbers, please do.
Air Force One is a VC-25 IIRC which consumes around 3,400 gals of fuel for a trip to New York. At 170 cts/gal for fuel (from iata) that comes out to around $5780. This is about the same as the operating cost of a commuter train for a single trip. Of course you could get a better estimate by using the fuel consumption calculator.
Then there's the time factor. A trip from Union Station to Penn Station is about 3 hours. Driving from D.C. to New York by car can be anywhere from 4:30 to 8 hours depending on traffic (I've been on both sides of that equation traveling to NY). A jet from D.C. to NY is about an hour. The president saves anywhere from 2 hours to 7 hours one way by taking his jet vs. alternate options.
The cost of the trip is about equal to taking the train since the only mitigating factor is jet fuel costs vs. the costs of the entire train operation (the president doesn't own the train, he's buying space on the train). The cost of driving is cheaper, however the travel time is expanded to such a degree that is costs more in man hours than it would have to just fly there. Depending on what other things the president had to do that day, who's to say he could afford the extra time round trip.
In short, I can't understand why you believe extra money would need to be printed for this trip.
Originally posted by: Dari
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Half a million dollars or tax payers money so Obama can take the misses out for dates.Originally posted by: Dari
STFU please. He's the President. You telling me he isn't allowed to take his wife out? And if he wanted to, do you think the Secret Service would let him take a commercial jet?
You don't think this is excessive?
DC has some of the nicest restaurants in the country, why not take her to one of those places and save the tax payers a TON of money.
It was a promise he made to his wife.
Originally posted by: guyver01
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Hey... if Obama wants to fly to Chicago or Hawaii for a few weeks vacation I am all for it.
But flying to NYC and back in the same night!!! Are you kidding me!!!!
as opposed to GWB taking 500 vacation days during his 8 years in office? that amouns to TWELVE WEEKS a year... who gets 3 months vacation?