Spending on White House dinners soars under Obama (Mr & Mrs Antoinette)

President Obama has spent far more lavishly on White House state dinners than previous chief executives, including nearly $1 million on a 2010 dinner for Mexico's president, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.

Presidents have long used formal dinners to court foreign heads of state and to dish out fine food and wine to reward political, financial and show business celebrities and supporters.

But current and former government officials said the documents obtained by The Examiner point to an unprecedented upsurge in White House spending on such events.

The Obama extravaganza two years ago for Mexican President Felipe Calderon, which included a performance by pop star Beyonce, cost $969,793, or more than $4,700 per attendee, the documents show.

The Calderon dinner was held on the South Lawn in a massive tent adorned with decorated walls, hanging chandeliers, carpeting and a stage for Beyonce's performance.

In THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY of Frederick Douglass, the slave from Maryland, suggested that negros in 1861, proudly would spent their last dime on a large cigar, take the last dollar and spend on a black hat like Abraham Lincoln had, rent a carriage, and light up the cigar just before they got to 1600 W. Pennsylvania Street, tipped their hat, drew the smoke from the cigar, and pleasantly nodded to the President, and then went home to live in squalor. Sometimes, people who haven’t had much, have to spend to make them feel important.....it’s still the same in 2012..and it is very sad.

Obama and Air Force One: It's good to have a 747
January 3, 2011

President Obama will spend Monday night flying across the Pacific and United States after his latest vacation, 11 days in Hawaii. It will be his first trip of 2011 aboard Air Force One.

Last year Obama flew in Air Force One 172 times, almost every other day.

White House officials have been telling reporters in recent days that the Democrat doesn't intend to hang around the White House quite so much in 2011.

They explain he wants to get out more around the country because, as everyone knows, that midterm election shellacking on Nov. 2 had nothing to do with his healthcare bill, over-spending or other policies, and everything to do with Obama's not adequately explaining himself to his countrymen and women.

And with only 673 days remaining in the neverending presidential campaign, the incumbent's travel pace will not likely slacken.

At an Air Force-estimated cost of $181,757 per flight hour (not to mention the additional travel costs of Marine One, Secret Service, logistics and local police overtime), that's a lot of frequent flier dollars going into the president's carbon footprint.

We are privy to some of these numbers thanks to CBS' Mark Knoller, a bearded national treasure trove of presidential stats. According to Knoller's copious notes, during the last year Obama made 65 domestic trips over 104 days and six trips to eight countries over 22 days. Not counting six vacation trips over 32 days.

He took 196 helicopter trips, signed 203 pieces of legislation and squeezed in 29 rounds of left-handed golf.

Obama last year gave 491 speeches, remarks or statements. That's more talking than goes on in some entire families, at least from fatherly mouths.

In fact, even including the 24 days of 2010 that we never saw the 44th president in public, Obama's speaking works out to about one official utterance every 11 waking hours. Aides indicate the Real Good Talker deems we need more.

As the president so often says, "Please be seated."

NOTE: for a full list of Zero's AF1 trips, click here...

And New Yorkers can’t even purchase a soft drink larger than sixteen ounces at a fast food restaurant with their own money.

Can’t wait until these two social outcasts are cast out.

Neither one of them have the refinement of a nine year old.

Spending money equates with social class to them. Sad? Funny? Embarrassing? Disgusting? Downright infuriating? Well yes actually, yes to all the above.

There they are folks, the pride of Chicago’s elite Leftists.

Tell you anything?

The answer for me is a resounding yes, on so many levels.

$1M to on a 2010 dinner so that Mr & Mrs Antoinette could hire ...chef Rick Bayless from Chicago... to prepare ... [Mexican food for visiting Mexicans...]

Gee, on foreign trips, most people think it's usually great to have the local offerings.

Local to DC would include chicken, ham, crabs, oysters, clams, ...

...not to mention steak, various bbqs, lobsters, mussels, crayfish, grits, chowda's, pork from around the country...

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.