The Real Costs Of Obama's Dinner Date - When do we dock his pay?

Remember the hullabaloo over Obama's night out in New York City... Did you even care?  Well I don't care where the guy goes as long as he does it on his own dime...somebody should ask him, "What's in your wallet?"  I know that living in the White House one has certain perks.  Well taking your wife out to dinner is not one them!  Especially when the house is in Washington, D.C. and the restaurant is in New York, New York.  So do you think Obama should pay for his little excursion?  What's left in your wallet?...after all you paid for everything from the taxi fare (really a jet plane ride) to the hors d'oeuvres.  Did the press report accurately what all this extravaganza cost the American taxpayer?  Lets take a look...

Here we have the Washington Times guess of $250,000.00

Monday, June 1, 2009

CURL: The cost of a NYC weekend

By Joseph Curl POLITICAL THEATER

In another odd twist left unexamined by the media, the White House on Monday said it simply would not release the cost of President Obama's weekend jaunt to New York City, where the First Couple had dinner and caught a Broadway show.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs, keeping the White House press corps in stiches, as he always does, said the Obamas would have preferred using a commercial airline shuttle to New York and back, but the Secret Service would not allow such unprotected travel (ba da bing).
And that was that. No further probing; asked and answered; time to move on.
....read the full story here the last paragraph had this:
One thing is known — The Obamas picked up the cost of dinner costs and their orchestra seat tickets, which cost $96.50 a piece. So if the whole thing cost $250,000, the Obamas offset that by at least a few hundred bucks. Phew.

The New York Post didn't have a clue but they were trying when they wrote this:

Taxpayers footed the bill for the big night on the town, which included a total of at least $24,000 for the three aircraft used to ferry the Obamas, aides and reporters to New York and back. ...read the full story here

Even some bloggers thought they had it figured out...
From SayAnythingBlog.com they spelled it out in their headline:

Obama’s “Date Night” Cost The Taxpayers $73,000 but if you want to read their angle then go here

So lets cut to the chase and find out the real costs...and even this could be on the low side!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Real Cost of a Date visit the author here

From a former Air Force Colonel….
The Date
First, let me say that I’ve moved three presidents up to now and I’ve seen incredible waste. But, the “new” guy really takes the cake. I don’t have an issue with the President promising his wife dinner and a show or that he even takes his wife out.
But, when I saw the news say that the date cost $24,000, here’s what you DON’T know.
Three days before “dinner” a C-17 flew Marines and the helicopter maintenance equipment to JFK Airport .
The day before “dinner” I flew the USSS and the motorcade to JFK Airport.

Our crew of 5 spent two days and nights at the Hilton in Times Square . My hotel bill: $621.66 plus $64 a day in per diem. The USSS guys were at a different Hilton in NYC, so figure that cost another $14,000 (or so) plus per diem. The Marines had to have cost as much and were there four days, so figure another $55,000 plus per diem (for 44 Marines).
We were supposed to fly the motorcade back and go home, but the Air Force was so short of C-17’s that we were re-tasked to take the motorcade back, return to JFK and take the helicopter back to Quantico.
When we got back to JFK, while the pilot was turning the plane around to park, he noticed a rotor blade sticking out of the hangar where the helicopter was parked and informed me that either it wasn’t ready to transport or it was flying home. After shutting down I walked over to the hangar and to my surprise I find FIVE helicopters, not ONE.
We’re obviously not transporting five big helicopters.
I went and talked to the Marines guarding the “fleet” and found that they were flying all five helicopters home and we were only transporting the Marines and the maintenance equipment.
After talking to the Marine(s) in charge, I was told that the White House requested FIVE helicopters.
The Marines told me that they spent all morning trying to figure out how much it cost them to come and said they figured it cost them $140,000 to stay there (I don’t know where they came up with that) and the trip’s total had to be about $1,000,000.
We heard that the President didn’t use Air Force One (the 747) so I asked if he came in on one of the 757’s.
I was told that he came in on THREE Air Force Lear jets.
So, date night consisted of: 2 C-17’s flying three missions,
3 Lear jets, 5 Helicopters, Presidential Motorcade, 44 Marines, more than 20 USSS personnel on our plane.
Who knows what it cost the NYPD and NY Port Authority (at the airport) in overtime.
These are the same people that chastised the automobile CEO’s for using their aircraft. It further proves that the media only use the facts that make the President look good and hide any facts that will detract from his persona.
Is this the ‘change’ we expected?
Talk with friends and those who are not blinded by charisma. Many folks I know who voted for Obama are very disappointed and sorry they did so.
The Emperor’s clothes on a grand scale. “Transparency”? Remember, 2010 is just around the corner.
All we have to do is survive long enough.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE NATIONAL DEBT AND SPENDING MONEY – BUSH CANNOT HOLD A CANDLE TO THIS GUY!!!!!!!

Posted by Dancing In The Raine in 00:39:37

Note from Norm:  I say we should dock Obama's pay for the remainder of his time in Washington...and extend that out into his retirement years until at least the million dollars is recovered...or better yet, when his wallet is empty forever!

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In Other News - This just in...(via email)

Did Barack Hussein Obama Commit A Felony By Offering Congressman Joe Sestak A "High Ranking" Cabinet Position To Drop Out Of His Pennsylvania Senate Race Against Senator Arlen Specter?

Let's be clear. The commission of an actual felony is not actually required in order to impeach a sitting President, butif Sestak's allegation is true... and if Barack Hussein Obama's fingerprints are all over this offer... THAT'S A FELONY... and drawing up Articles of Impeachment against Barack Hussein Obama becomes a NECESSITY.

According to Judge Andrew Napolitano with FOX News: "Federal law makes it a felony to offer 'anything of value' to an official of the government in return for a decision in your favor by that official of the government; it is called bribery."