Northwest Indiana Discussion

Michelle Obama's Spain vacation
cost taxpayers nearly $470G,
watchdog group claims
FoxNews.com


First lady Michelle Obama's 2010 trip to Spain cost taxpayers nearly $470,000, according to a conservative watchdog group that obtained Secret Service records from the overseas excursion.

That trip, which the first lady took with her younger daughter Sasha, drew widespread criticism at the time -- as the visuals of the first lady in an elegant Mediterranean setting clashed with the still-struggling U.S. economy.

Judicial Watch, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request, claimed Thursday that documents show the trip cost at least $467,585.

Those costs are split between Secret Service expenses and expenses for the flight and flight crew.

Secret Service costs totaled nearly $255,000, according to Judicial Watch.

Based on Pentagon estimates of flight costs, another $199,000 went toward the flight from the United States to Mallorca and back. On top of that were various expenses for the 15-person flight crew. They stayed at a local motel at a cost of roughly $10,000, according to Judicial Watch, in addition to money spent on rental cars and food.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04 ... z1tBlMeDRY

He and several other top-tier Republican pollsters, organized by Resurgent Republic, traveled to 11 battleground states to host focus groups of independent and swing voters, mostly Democrats, who voted for President Obama in 2008 but who are now on the fence.

McLaughlin handled blue collar and Catholic voters in Pittsburgh on April 3 and Cleveland on March 20. He found that they are very depressed about the economy and feel that their tax dollars are being sucked up by both the rich and those living on government assistance.

During the focus group discussions about debt and spending cuts, many in his group volunteered criticism of the presidential vacations as something that should be cut. Among the lines McLaughlin wrote down was one from a Democratic woman who said, “Michelle Obama spends $1 million to take the kids to Hawaii,” and another who said, “President Obama was the only president to take so many trips.”

The theme, said McLaughlin, is that the first family “is out of touch” with working class voters.

The first closet has increasingly become a subject of interest since Michelle Obama swept fashionably into the White House in her Jason Wu ball gown.

Yesterday, Ann Romney’s clothes stole the spotlight as she wore a fashionable top on Tuesday for an appearance with her husband on CBS “This Morning.” Politico reported that the Reed Krakoff shirt would “cost you a pretty penny,” at $990.

But Mrs. Romney will need to step up her fashion game if she wants to fill the shoes of Mrs. Obama.

In March, the first lady visited her British counterpart Samantha Cameron wearing a L’Wren Scott sweater in a trendy bright yellow hue. The embellished cardigan costs$2,720.

The first lady’s favorite embellished cardigans from L’Wren Scott range from $2,095 to $3,320. Plain cashmere-blend cardigans from the brand start at $910.

It was started during the Raygun admin

First Lady Michelle Obama is on a mission to get our kids to eat healthy, but every now and then she is known to indulge on a cheeseburger or other food that is not so good for the body.

A few years ago she made a lunch run with staff to a Five Guys inWashington, D.C.

Well, a physicians group said this is a no-no and wants Michelle Obama and the rest of the first family not to be photographed eating unhealthy foods.

The Physicans Committee for Responsible Medicine said that President Obama has posed in a number of staged photos eating unhealthy foods, including hot dogs at a basketball game with British Prime Minister David Cameron. He and Vice President Joe Biden were spotted making a stop at Ray’s Hell Burger in Virginia and eating cheeseburgers with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The group said Obama’s staff would never schedule a photo opp of the president smoking a cigarette, so why eating a piece of pizza?

The group plans to file a petition later this week asking the White House to issue an executive order banning staged photos of the president, his family the vice president and members of the president’s cabinet eating unhealthy foods.

President Obama Saturday commissioned Air Force One to travel to a campaign rally near Richmond, Virginia, a location only 90 miles away from the White House, highlighting the large expenses being borne by taxpayers as the president traverses the country to campaign and raise cash for a campaign that is failing to meet its fundraising goals.

The cost of flying Air Force One is currently about $180,000 per hour, according to ABC News. Only a portion of the cost is borne by the campaign.

With a cruising speed of around 130 mph, Obama’s Marine One chopper could easily have had the president at his location in 45 minutes at far lower cost. Obama had to use Marine One anyway to ferry him from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base, where he boarded his jet.