State Department buys $70,000 worth of Obama memoir (Huh??)

Washington Times ^ | 10-25-11 | Jim McElhatton

[STARWISE]

The U.S. Department of State has bought more than $70,000 worth of books authored by President Obama, sending out copies as Christmas gratuities and stocking “key libraries” around the world with “Dreams from My Father” more than a decade after its release.

The U.S. embassy in Egypt, for instance, spent $28,636 in August 2009 for copies of Mr. Obama’s bestselling 1995 memoir. Six weeks earlier, the embassy had placed another order with the same book seller, Kalemat Arabia, for more than $9,000 for copies of the same book, federal purchasing records show.

Around the same time, halfway around the world, the U.S. embassy in South Korea had the same idea, spending more than $6,000 for copies of “Dreams from My Father”.

One month later, the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, spent more than $3,800 for hardcover copies of the Indonesian version of Mr. Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope,” records show.

A review of the expenditures in a federal purchasing database did not reveal any examples of past purchases by the State Department of books by President Bush or President Clinton. The purchases of Mr. Obama’s literary work mostly, but not always, took place in the months after Mr. Obama captured the White House.

Leslie Paige, spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group, said if the federal government is looking to cut costs, eliminating purchases of Mr. Obama’s books is a good place to start.

“It’s inappropriate for U.S. taxpayer dollars to be spent on this,” she said. “This sounds like propaganda.”

[STARWISE]

Sheesh .. giving him $$ from book sales while propagandizing, too? Such an insidious cabal (or maybe she's playing too cagey, plotting her own run?)

[STARWISE]

.. Ping!

[ronnie raygun]

Want to relive the memory if what could have been. Sorry a## delusional misfits

[aquila48]

This administration is corrupt to the core... and flaunts it!

[tgusa]

I hope there is at least one Pubbie left with enough brains and spine to be keeping a list of all these blatant, egregious wastes of OUR tax dollars. Next time the Senate needs to filibuster, this list should take longer to read than the New York phone book.

[353FMG]

The man deserves some extra income while he is in the WH.

Expect a “ROOMS BY THE HOUR” sign over the WH soon.

[IbJensen]

The government and the regime that easy to hate!

[StAntKnee]

Not waste, but illegal behavior and a massive conflict of interest.

His administration is buying from him and enriching him personally with tax funds.

Wrong! Enethical. Immoral And. Not even a close call.

[douginthearmy]

BFD! Obama has taken BILLIONS in taxpayer money and given it to companies that support him. Those execs then take FAT bonuses (even if the company goes bankrupt) and donate FAT checks to Obama campaign. He will raise a billion dollars and republicans better be ready for a serious fight regardless of how bad the economy is. I am absolutely convinced Obama has funneled taxpayer monies into his coffers. $70K is a single check.

[matt04]

Amazon sells the paperback for $10 and the hard cover for $17. That’s at least four thousand copies.

[Bender2]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wright

In 1988 Democrat Speaker of the House Jim Wright became the target of an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee. Their report in early 1989 implied that he had used bulk purchases of his book, Reflections of a Public Man, to earn speaking fees in excess of the allowed maximum, and that his wife, Betty, was given a job and perks to avoid the limit on gifts. Faced with an increasing loss of effectiveness, Wright tendered his resignation as Speaker on May 31, 1989, the resignation to become effective on the selection of a successor. He was the first Speaker to resign because of a scandal.

Gadzooks! If this is true... can soon we expect President zerO to resign??

[ColdOne]

WTF? Honestly just when I think I have heard everything with this crew, something else comes out. Yet they will get away with this as well.

[StAntKnee]

Yes, ENethical, which is 10X worse than UNethical.

Okay, I messed up, but that was an obama attempt at recovery. Not a bad imitation, huh?

[GeronL]

government buying Obama’s book from a Muslim book seller?

[Red Badger]

Can you imagine the hue and cry if a Republican pulled this stunt?.........

[Tai_Chung]

There’s no indication the White House knew about the purchases...

A White House spokesman did not respond to email messages.

If it were President Bush, then entire press corps would ask questions.

[Signalman]

“The State Dept. buys”.

Translation: The American taxpayer buys.

[Digger]

Not waste, but illegal behavior and a massive conflict of interest. His administration is buying from him and enriching him personally with tax funds. Wrong! Enethical. Immoral And. Not even a close call.

Get over it. Just admit to yourselves that we are a Banana Republic. Then it all falls in place.

[NativeNewYorker]

“This sounds like propaganda.”

[dead]

Didn't I already buy enough of Bill Ayers' book for American schools and libraries?

Now, I'm buying more to sit, unread on bookshelves in Korea and Jakarta.

Global Boardwalk Empire.

[STARWISE]

**FR could really use your help**
Please click the pic to donate what you can
**THANK YOU very much!**

[onyx]

Where is your graphic so I can borrow it?
I am touring.

[woodenickel]

The Dollar Store had 2 copies on the shelf. At a buck it was still over priced.

[GraceG]

Oh but it is okay when Barry does it with taxpayer monies.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2796132/posts

Nuff said....

[onyx]

It's insidious!

THEY'RE ALL CORRUPT!
SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC HERE!

[STARWISE]

FRmail

[Dick Bachert]

Two government types run out of office were former Speaker Jim Wright (who, as a Democrat, was WRONG most of the time) and Representative Tom DeLay.

As I recall, one of the issues for them was an alleged shady book deal. If Newt wants to score some points, he should go after Obozo as hard as he did Jim Wright.

My, how times have changed.

[dennisw]

State Department is chock full of gays so of course they love president Jug Ears and want to spread that joy far and wide

[F15Eagle]

Wow using taxpayer funds to promote the 12th Imam oops I mean prop up Hussein - did it come with a free koran?

[freekitty]

Why would they do something so stupid? Oh, Hillary is there.

[hillarys cankles]

And we just continue to pay our taxes..............
Stop paying our taxes, starve the monster.

[Sea Parrot]

Obama and his minions are severely urinated about this news.

Read the other day Palin’s Going Rogue has outsold Obama’s, Audacity of Hope which was released three years before hers.

[sten]

of course. when republican congress critters can’t be bothered to listen to complaints about corruption... what are the chances anyone actually being corrupt will be called on it... let alone arrested?

answer: 0

[MinuteGal]

Will the State Department buy thousands of Korans from a Muslim book publisher to hand out free to Catholic Charities?

Leni

[aces]

Are those friggin horns starting grow on the POS POTUS head?

[RedMDer]

[Mouton]

Maybe they can throw in a faked birth certificate with it.

I am so done with this corrupt government. We are dismantling a bomb of no value...actually, they should detonate it over DC when the mussie in chief is in residence.

[itsahoot]

This administration is corrupt to the core... and flaunts it!

Not to worry I am sure the RINO leadership in both houses have girded their loins and are ready to attack this corrupt administration, oh wait they have their hands full trying to get use to accept their latest fake conservative nominated.

[liberalh8ter]

How much more of this do we have to endure?

[abishai]

This is outrageous. First and foremost, we need to get a promise from any candidate running that they will make everyone from this administration pay for crimes that they have committed. OBAMA'S ELECTORAL DEFEAT MUST NOT BE THE END FOR HIM. We need to group together and make sure he does not get away with this.

This man has gotten brazenly away with too much. Jail time is too good for him and his cronies.

Seriously. Making them pay for their constant attacks and looting America (us) needs to be a major campaign issue.

[STARWISE]

I agree! Think about emailing the campaigns ... NO ONE is talking about accountability!

[abishai]

Thats the word I was looking for. ACCOUNTABILITY.

[hillarys cankles]

I look at that picture of O yucking it up with leno on drudge and it makes me friggin SICK. HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ANYTHING BUT GETTING RE-ELECTED.

[lowbridge]

bump

[Dick Bachert]

They don’t NEED our taxes to keep the thing fed. Here’s why:

WHY THE POLITCAL RULING CLASS NO LONGER LISTENS TO US!

Among others, Mr. Jefferson warned that the financial disaster we now face would be but one of many problems paper money would visit upon us if we allowed our “leaders” to remove the backing from the currency, to wit:
“When the servants if the people are paid with something other than that which the people themselves have produced (i.e. the real, tangible products of their labors or some fixed and real medium of that exchange), the roles of master and servant will be reversed.”

We have been “…swindling futurity…” for a long time and this is now where we find ourselves. If the government, through its banker masters at the Federal Reserve, can create “money” from thin air, they certainly don’t need ours every April 15th. That annual sheep shearing is simply an attempt to vacuum enough of the excess paper from the system to keep the rest of us from catching on to the biggest theft ring in the history of man. They have now created so much that their attempt is failing and failing badly to a point where all but the dullest among us (Obama voters and his growing cadres of personal and corporate welfare beneficiaries) are starting to “get it.”

If you understood that last paragraph, you can now make the small leap to an understanding as to why the “progressive” utopian welfare state hacks in Washington don’t give a damn WHAT you think. Their power to create all the “money” they need to fuel their infernal machine and fill the gaping maws of enough of those hoards of welfare constituents to assure their perpetual re-election means that they – ready? – NO LONGER NEED YOU! They have become, as Mr. Jefferson predicted, our MASTERS.

They will use willful failure to file to put a bunch of us in jail while the beast continues to consume the liberties of the rest.

[Ramius]

It’s a really creepy bit of narcissism, for sure. Sort of like Mao giving away copies of his Red Book.

“Here, take this book of wisdom from the Dear Leader...”

[shudder]