Michelle, Mom, Kids Africa Trip Costing Taxpayers $171,000 At Least for Air Travel Alone

CNSNews ^

[Sub-Driver]

Michelle, Mom, Kids Africa Trip Costing Taxpayers $171,000 At Least for Air Travel Alone Tuesday, June 21, 2011 By James Zilenziger

(CNSNews.com) - The White House isn’t saying how much of a tab the taxpayers will need to pick up for the week-long trip that First Lady Michelle Obama, her two children, her mother, a niece and a nephew are taking to South Africa and Botswana.

But according to Congressional Research Service estimates, the flights alone will cost taxpayers more than $171,000--almost as much as the $174,000 annual salaries paid to rank-and-file members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The first lady--joined by daughters Malia and Sasha, Marian Robinson, and niece and nephew Leslie and Avery Robinson--is going to Africa to “improve relations between the U.S. and Africa and promote youth engagement, education, health and wellness,” according to the White House.

When CNSNews.com asked the first lady’s press office how much, on a daily basis, her trip to Africa will cost U.S. taxpayers her press secretary did not offer a response.

The White House did tell the Associated Press that all costs regarding Mrs. Obama’s family members are to be paid privately. However, because Mrs. Obama's trip will be considered official travel until her family heads off for “private time, including a safari and an overnight stay in the animal park” on Saturday, the taxpayers will be footing the bill for the first lady up to that point.

[rightwingextremist1776]

Someone quick...... Revoke her passport!

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

But according to Congressional Research Service estimates, the flights alone will cost taxpayers more than $171,000

A stone bargain, provided that all the tickets are one-way.

[ETL]

Here are two actual photos of Mrs Obama at two different G-20 Summits.
The other is of her receiving lessons in etiquette from junkman Fred Sanford.

"The First Lady slides into her spot alongside other G-20 spouses
before a group photo at the Royal Opera House [London, 2009]."

Source: Time Magazine (Time.com):

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1889051_1865162,00.html
_____________________________________________

Michelle Obama at the 2009 G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, USA

Source:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mitchelles-gifts-to-g20-spouses-porcelain/521488/
_____________________________________________

[ETL]

[bgill]

The White House did tell the Associated Press that all costs regarding Mrs. Obama’s family members are to be paid privately

Does that include their flight and security detail? Somehow, I think not. Will they at least bring me back a t-shirt?

[ETL]

Source: TIME Magazine:
http://www.time.com/time/quotes/0,26174,1857184,00.html
____________________________________________________

"The raised fist (also known as the clenched fist) is a salute and logo most often used by left-wing activists, such as: Marxists, anarchists, socialists, communists, pacifists, trade unionists, and black nationalists. The raised fist is usually regarded as an expression of solidarity, strength or defiance."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raised_fist
____________________________________________________

Anarcho-syndicalism

A common Anarcho-Syndicalist flag.

In the early 20th century, anarcho-syndicalism arose as a distinct school of thought within anarchism.[78] With greater focus on the labour movement than previous forms of anarchism, syndicalism posits radical trade unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society, democratically self-managed by the workers.

Anarcho-syndicalists seek to abolish the wage system and private ownership of the means of production, which they believe lead to class divisions. Important principles include workers' solidarity, direct action (such as general strikes and workplace recuperations), and workers' self-management. This is compatible with other branches of anarchism, and anarcho-syndicalists often subscribe to anarchist communist or collectivist anarchist economic systems.[79] Its advocates propose labour organization as a means to create the foundations of a non-hierarchical anarchist society within the current system and bring about social revolution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism

[CORedneck]

Too bad her name is not “Marie Antoinette” ! Fitting name for MO !

[FrankR]

[Doogle]

that’s cheap...AF1 cost $187,000 per hour to operate, so Dumbo takes three trips a week......

[almost done by half]

We give Africa all kinds of aid. Why should they be spared a trip from Michelle? ;-)

[hal ogen]

Workers...You must show respect and stop being so critical of the Moocher. Shut up...Get to Work (if you have a job)...and Pay Your Taxes. Move along!

[baddog 219]

[winodog]

That 171,000 number must be fudged somewhere. Like thats just her plane, not the three other support planes that go along. I bet this trip cost over one million easily with logistics and support or whatever its called.
Overhead maybe!

[oldbill]

Not to mention that her kids get off the airplane wrapped in the SOUTH AFRICAN flag.

Have you ever seen the Obama kids waving an American flag? Or their mother?

[wilco200]

Does everyone in that family walk around with a perma-scowl.

Livin’ large on the taxpayer dime and they still can’t crack a smile. And what the hell is mama robinson doing on this trip?

[Buckeye McFrog]

whoever gets the GOP nod had better damned well make this woman’s Marie Antoinette tendencies at least a side issue in the campaign

[silverleaf]

This morning’s news described her jaunt as
“part personal pilgrimage”

Back to the land of her royal xhosa ancestors?

Poor sasha, the kid never smiles, obviously needs more broccoli

[silverleaf]

three generations of trout pout, that skinny white embassy handholder must not have jumped high and fast enough

[hattend]

I can see where Moochie gets her cheerful look. Grandma’s scowl has passed successfully from Moochie to mini-Mooch as well.