Posted on 12/23/2009 8:06:14 PM PST by kristinn
Barack Obama will be spending ten days over Christmas and New Year's at a $8.9 million estate in Hawaii at a rate of at least $4000 per night, according to ABC News. Obama spent last Christmas there as well when he was president-elect.
As the American people are still caught in the grips of the recession with unemployment running from 10% to 16% and the federal budget blown out with Obama's massive deficit spending, Obama is living like a king with no criticism from the mainstream media.
ABC describes the estate with no mention of the incongruence of Obama's extravagance with the wrecked Christmases of tens of millions of Americans one year in to his failing presidency:
The Obamas' rental property is 7,000 square feet of paradise on the southeastern coast of the island, complete with large open spaces built around a lagoon pool.
...It's also not cheap. Staying in this $8.9 million house, which Zimel has dubbed the "Obama Winter White House," will cost around $4,000 a night. The two houses next door will be occupied by Obama family members and friends.
While ABC News ignores Obama's 'Let them eat cake' attitude, the New York Daily News flat out lies for Obama on his self-indulgent Christmas:
With so many Americans hurting, the White House is smart enough to know that they don’t want to flaunt their good fortunes on those who are without...The First Family heads to Hawaii tomorrow for a well-deserved tropical Christmas.
It's good to be the king!
Who is paying for it? Nadhmi Auchi?
Have they buried granny yet?
Why the hell does he not go to his real home in Chicago
“Let them eat cake.”
Does anyone have any pictures of this humble hideaway?
Yep, two weeks ago I spent the week in Arlington, across the river from the Kremlin on the Potomac. Ain’t no recession goin’ on there! On the last day I saw the article in USA Today about the salaries of federal employees. I don’t know how I kept my head from exploding...
Let him stay there for his whole term—cheaper by far to house him there than the economic disaster he creates with his socialistic experiments here stateside.
“My Kennebunkport is on the South Side of Chicago. Our friends are here. Our family is here. We are going to try to come back here as often as possible ... at least once every six weeks or couple months.”
Barack H. Obama, 2008
It’s hopeless - the media would have critized Bush if he stayed at a Motel 6 for Christmas. “Times are hard; shouldn’t he have camped in a tent with the homeless people?”
And imagine if they found a Bush hotel bill showing room service caviar and lobster - it would have been bigger than Palin’s “ClothesGate”, and we would still be hearing about it to this day...
Saudi’s are paying for it. Their loyal servant is doing a good job in Amerika!
“Let them eat dirt.”
How doest dare deny thy royal king a happy abode in the warm, sunshine of the fair distant islands of the sea.
“Let them eat yellow snow.”
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The author of the NY Daily News blog item referenced brags on how the Obamsky’s buy their gifts online rather than disrupting the malls—this is the same Obamsky that told someone when he was running that his family doesn’t exchange gifts. Now they do. Now they don’t. Now they do. Now they don’t.
Whatever line of bull the Agenda requires the MSM happily delivers.
Ha ha! Good one. Thanks for the memory. I think he’s been to the house once. Valentine’s weekend-President’s Day holiday when the stimulus bill that was bull-rushed through Congress collected dust on his desk in the Oval Office when he took a ‘much deserved’ long romantic weekend with Michelle less than a month in office.
He’s riding for a BIG fall.........
The American Mugabe.
Ever heard of the Eagle’s Nest?
Who lives in the Chicago place now, Kenya? Bin Laden?
Hey, Barry. Make sure you’re up in Air Force One on the 25th for an up close and personal with that coronal mass ejection.
That was just a front provided by one of his real estate buddies.
Saw a tour earlier tonight on TV.
The master bedroom is supposed to be the best feature.
He rented the 2 houses next door for ‘visitors’ also.
It’s good to be king.
Yep the champion of the middle class. Liberals are the worst hypocrites on the planet and by far.
Socialism for thee, but not for me; it’s always and ever so with the commissars. America in the twenty-first century is the USSR in the twentieth, and everything old is new again.
RE: “My Kennebunkport is on the South Side of Chicago. Our friends are here. Our family is here. We are going to try to come back here as often as possible ... at least once every six weeks or couple months.”
Barack H. Obama, 2008”
************************
YOU LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not impressed. We’re being ripped off at $4000 a night. Wonder what it cost to house the Secret Service?
Everyone else can do what they want, but I’m praying for the sharks....... lots and lots of hungry sharks.
Isn't it simply an amazing coincidence that when it comes to Odouchebag tripping around, it is always "well-deserved", but when George Bush went to his own ranch in Texas, they raised holy hell about it?
Who is paying for this because I just don’t think Obama would shell out $28K to stay there for a week!
This BO guy has a house in Chicago and the big White House but just has to go to Hawaii and spend 4K per night/ 10 days/ plus Co2/ plus SS and who knows what else, that dings the taxpayers while I bought a ham, turkey, canned goods and groceries to drop off at my small town food co-op for the poor.
BTW, the cars were lined up to get the free food, which brings up another thought. If you are so poor, how do afford a car, insurance, license and the gas to idle in a line for free food, but I’m just mad now.
That might actually be a plus. He doesnt klnow what to do in an emergency anyway.
Uh oh, Feng shui says it’s bad to live under those beams.
Where’s Robin Leach?
And it is so noble of him to delay his vacation a day or two because of impending legislation - like this is any big deal - doubt if there are any re-ticketing or cancellation fees he has to pay!
Obama visit restricts tours
By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Tour operators, flight schools and others say flight restrictions for President Obama’s expected O’ahu holiday visit could leave them struggling to bring in revenues during what is usually a busy time of year.
The flight restrictions create a temporary no-fly zone over a 10-mile area whose core is Kailua — where Obama and his family are expected to stay — shutting out helicopter sightseeing operators from some of the most popular must-see spots on the island, including Sacred Falls and Ka’a’awa Valley.
Also, all of O’ahu will be under restrictions that require small aircraft to travel from one point to another “without loitering,” the Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday. Operators say those restrictions will effectively ban aircraft from doing any training maneuvers. Seaplanes will also not be allowed to land at Kane’ohe Bay.
The flight restrictions are in effect from Wednesday to Jan. 4. They apply to all aircraft except for commercial, cargo, law enforcement, medical and military aircraft or any others with permission.
Last night, tour operators, flight schools and others met with the U.S. Secret Service and FAA to discuss the restrictions — and try to persuade officials to relax them. Some helicopter tour operators, for example, suggested that the no-fly zone be slightly decreased so Sacred Falls was no longer in it.
Operators say they doubt they’ll be able to sell helicopter tours, which run about $250, that don’t include the waterfall or Ka’a’awa, and worry they’ll lose out on much-needed revenues during what they say has otherwise been an abysmal year in tourism. They say business shows signs of picking up over the holiday season, which is historically one of the busiest times of the year for sightseeing flights.
Missing out on the increased business, they said, will leave them struggling to stay afloat.
After the meeting last night, sightseeing operators said the Secret Service seemed receptive to the suggestions, though officials did not make any pledges that changes would be made. Operators were not told when the Secret Service would make a final decision on the flight restrictions. Secret Service officials who attended the meeting last night said they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.
FAA traffic security coordinator Rally Caparas, who is based in Washington, D.C., was also at the meeting yesterday and said the flight restrictions are “still being formulated” and that the suggestions the operators made yesterday will be taken back to supervisors to see whether they can be approved.
He added that “the intent (of the restrictions) can’t be weakened.”
Richard Schuman, president and owner of Makani Kai Helicopters, said he understands the restrictions and added that most tourists would be OK with not being able to see Kane’ohe Bay, if the president is staying just a few miles away. But he said he hopes an exception is made for Sacred Falls.
“If we can’t even show them a waterfall, then we don’t think we can sell our product,” he said.
Schuman added that most O’ahu helicopter tours take the same route.
Other operators say the restrictions are tougher than those imposed during Obama’s last visit as president-elect and when previous presidents visited O’ahu. They said the no-fly zone then was smaller.
P.J. O’Reilley, manager of Mauna Loa Helicopters, a flight training school, said the restrictions will effectively close him down for two weeks. “We’re pretty much taking a two-week vacation,” he said, after leaving the meeting yesterday. He said the flight restrictions don’t allow training over O’ahu, but would allow it over water. He said that’s just too risky, though, and added the ban will hurt his business.
But O’Reilley said he wasn’t surprised by the restrictions.
“He’s the president,” he said.
Pat Magie, owner of Island Seaplane Service, said the restrictions mean he won’t be able to do any training and also can’t take tours, since he can’t land in Kane’ohe Bay. “I’m out of business,” Magie said.
“I can’t fly for two weeks.”
The White House has not yet confirmed the president’s holiday visit.
But sources say Obama and his family are expected to be on O’ahu from Wednesday through Jan. 2.
Obama, who was born in Hawai’i and graduated from Punahou School, has not been back to the Islands since being sworn in as president. He was president-elect when he and his family had a 12-day vacation at a beachfront home in Kailua last December, and still a candidate when he visited his dying grandmother in October 2008 and enjoyed a summer break and local fundraiser in August 2008.
Can't believe it's going to take him that long to cook up a new birth certificate.
How about we let Hawaii withdraw from the United States. It can revert to a monarchy. They can elect 0bama as the new King of Hawaii - “King Watabozo”
For his first term it will be in the billions. This child like nitwit won the lottery and he will suck us dry.
With Hawaii nearly 5,000 miles from Washington, D.C. — at least a 10-hour flight — the westernmost state may not be a practical destination for Obama to make frequent trips, but friends have said he is likely to continue coming here for Christmas vacations.
If he does, the Kailua estate seems well designed to become a part-time presidential retreat. The property sits on a peninsula, with a single narrow road leading to it, offering plenty of privacy. David Zimel, whose firm, Paradise Point Estates, owns the property, said he helped Secret Service agents secure the property the week before Obama arrived.
"They love the situation," Zimel said. "It's an absolutely perfect setting for him because it's at the end of the beach."
Still, beaches in Hawaii are public property, and an enterprising paparazzo from a California-based photo agency was able to walk onto Kailua beach and snap dozens of photographs of a shirtless Obama, his wife and their children, apparently within sight of Secret Service agents.
A few gawkers have come to the guard stand near the home, hoping to see the president-elect.
Behind the wall, the Obamas are enjoying stunning seaside views from the master bedroom, heavy granite in the kitchen and detailed woodwork throughout. Tiki torches dot the manicured yard, while the recently remodeled interior features stone imported from Peru, Jerusalem and Italy, Zimel said.
Decorated with a cut Christmas tree and poinsettias, the home is where the Obamas opened presents Thursday morning and were to enjoy a traditional dinner of turkey and ham.
One of Obama's high school friends in Hawaii negotiated a deal to rent the multimillion-dollar homes late this summer, Zimel said.
The entire Kailua neighborhood once was the private estate of Samuel Castle, a sugar magnate whose Castle & Cooke company was one of the Big Five firms that dominated Hawaiian politics for decades. The Obamas' rental sits near land that used to be Castle's horse pasture and skeet ranch, neighbors said.
When Obama first walked through the house upon arrival on Saturday, "he just smiled," Zimel said. "A few times we heard a 'Wow'. "
Singer Cher was rumored to have been interested in buying the property a few years ago but never closed on a sale, Howell said. Asked if the estate is Oahu's most luxurious, she replied, "Oh, heavens, yes."
Because it it's sleeting here. Besides, it isn't his house. It belongs to Rezko's lawyer, I think.
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