“Send out the Sheriff of Nottingham to collect more tribute”
Posted on 10/01/2012 5:50:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
Way back in 2010, I savaged Prince Charles for being the ultimate Limousine Liberal. He lives off the taxpayers while traveling on private jets so he can pontificate about the need for ordinary people to live bleaker lives in order to appease the environmental gods.
And if someone asked me about the taxpayer cost of maintaining England’s royal family compared to the equivalent numbers for President Obama and his family, I would have guessed the royal family was more expensive.
I would have been wrong. Here’s an excerpt from a story in the Daily Caller.
Taxpayers spent $1.4 billion dollars on everything from staffing, housing, flying and entertaining President Obama and his family last year, according to the author of a new book on taxpayer-funded presidential perks. In comparison, British taxpayers spent just $57.8 million on the royal family. Author Robert Keith Gray writes in “Presidential Perks Gone Royal” that Obama isn’t the only president to have taken advantage of the expensive trappings of his office. But the amount of money spent on the first family, he argues, has risen tremendously under the Obama administration and needs to be reined in. Gray told The Daily Caller that the $1.4 billion spent on the Obama family last year is the “total cost of the presidency,” factoring the cost of the “biggest staff in history at the highest wages ever,” a 50 percent increase in the numbers of appointed czars and an Air Force One “running with the frequency of a scheduled air line.”
I hope that these numbers are wrong. Indeed, it wouldn’t be fair to add the policy staff of the White House (even though I’m sure it could be cut in half) when making comparisons of the care and upkeep of the Obamas and the royal family.
“Send out the Sheriff of Nottingham to collect more tribute”
But there’s definitely a big kernel of truth to the charge that politicians are leading lives of privilege and elitism compared to the peasants that finance their pampered existence.
To add insult to injury, they exempt themselves from the laws they impose on the rest of us, such as the decision that some White House vehicles will be exempt from Obama’s directive that the federal government purchase only green cars.
Keep in mind, though, that it’s not just Obama. The Bush White House also was guilty of extravagance, albeit perhaps at a lower level.
But the big numbers, in terms of the burden on taxpayers, come from the giant army of overcompensated federal bureaucrats. And you need to consider the mass of lobbyists and consultants that also are part of the corrupt Washington machine.
No wonder, as shown in this map, most of the richest counties in America are those surrounding Washington.
But Moochelle won’t ‘let them eat cake’.
Under soviet communism, there was a politically-appointed elite (Nomenklatura) with special privileges. It was open only to those who supported the party line. They lived much better than the ordinary people, who were all kept down and poor.
Same thing here. The politicians in power are the elite, and the working slobs have to obey laws that the elite doesn’t.
Haven't bought it, but I'm probably too depressed to learn more about tax payer abuse without accountability.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. In 2010, I was deployed to Africa. I worked in the boonies but reported to Camp Lemonier in Djibouti. My boss was a one-star admiral. A measly one star had a personal staff of 12. He had 12 people to answer the phones and write letters and get his dry cleaning. This didn’t count the task force staff, the SOC staff, and the camp staff. The man had two private planes at his disposal at Camp Lemonier.
Another fun comparison is the numbers of Laura Bush’s staff against Michelle Obama’s.
Having “lived” in the WDC area for over 30 years (recently moved out...thank Goodness), I observed how the political class and their minions live. If Americans toured WDC (the opulent neighborhoods, the palatial office buildings and so forth) there would be a revolution. These let-them-eat-cake clowns should be thrown out of WDC, shunned and forced to wander America begging forgiveness. Unfortunately, this won’t happen. Sigh.
Well if it comes to Civil War II the Confederate Air Force may level DC one day.
They live high off money they take from us under the threat of jail, then have the chutzpah to tell us how to live too. Something that can’t go on, won’t.
Gilded should be gelded.
Don’t worry I’m sure Mitt Romney will fix all this.
The only thing that Obama attracts to DC are those occasional flies that perch on his purple bottom lip.
Leni
Barons of the Republic=congressmen.
Dukes of the Republic=senators.
King=Obama (ruling by executive order, in essence dictatorial edicts.)
And then there is the rest of us...Peasants.
“At least the royals are the world-wide tourism bait that returns in multiples the pounds sterling expended for their upkeep.
The only thing that Obama attracts to DC are those occasional flies that perch on his purple bottom lip.
Leni “
Our English scientists at the Society For The Study Of Diptera want to know if you have a problem with Obama’s “Circle Flies”?
After all, when in America’s history has a President and any dipterid been so prominently featured in cartoons.
Isn’t any publicity good publicity?
;-)
It would be interesting to have the comparable figures for Clinton and George W. Bush for comparison.
George W. Bush’s house in Texas was built and paid for by him. It is totally eco friendly. The expense was for flying back and forth from D.C. Otherwise, it cost the taxpayers nothing.
George W. Bush’s house in Texas was built and paid for by him. It is totally eco friendly. The expense was for flying back and forth from D.C. Otherwise, it cost the taxpayers nothing. And his only vacation other than using his own home was one or two trips to his father’s summer home.
Having “lived” in the WDC area for over 30 years (recently moved out...thank Goodness), I observed how the political class and their minions live. If Americans toured WDC (the opulent neighborhoods, the palatial office buildings and so forth) there would be a revolution.
I lived in the DC area, too. Beautiful city, and I loved Georgetown. If people want to and can afford to live in the opulent neighborhoods, more power to them. I’m not into the class warfare crap.
So, where does Obama secure the budget to hire the czars and extra staff - is his annual budget unlimited by Congress? It’s really all about the money.
He didn’t take staff and secret service with him?
Is Mitchell seriesly claiming that the Bushes were more extravagant than the Clintons? Prove it, Einstein. Or else stop throwing Bush under the bus just to appear fair and balanced.
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