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The Painful Irony of Michelle Obama's $12,000 Dress
Townhall.com ^ | February 14, 2014 | Katie Pavlich

Posted on 02/14/2014 12:30:29 PM PST by Kaslin

Earlier this week President Obama and the First Lady hosted French President Francois Hollande at the White House for an official state dinner. It was quite the affair with caviar, quail eggs, rib-eye and chocolate-malted ganache.

In case you don't remember, Hollande is a full blown French socialist who deeply believes the only way to help the poor is by demonizing and soaking the rich. Hollande is currently moving forward with his plan in France to tax millionaires 75 percent after receiving approval from a court. President Obama holds similar views and has repeatedly told the rich they need to "pay their fair share" so that the rest of us can have a fair shot at life.

But it's difficult to take these positions seriously when the people taking them engage in the very lifestyles they claim to abhor. Take for example Michelle Obama, who wore a $12,000 Carolina Herrera designer gown to the state dinner earlier this week. Just a few weeks before the dinner, President Obama argued income inequality is a major problem facing our America. CNSNews noticed the cost of her dress is more than the average household income worldwide.

The blue and black designer dress that first lady Michelle Obama wore to Tuesday’s state dinner for the French president reportedly cost between $10,000 and $12,000, according to news media, which is more than the median annual household income worldwide of $9,733, and greater than the median income for households in at least 87 countries, according to data from Gallup.

Just before the dinner, Michelle Obama tweeted out this photo of her dogs at the dinner table dining on crystal and fancy china.

Bone appétit! pic.twitter.com/vuXRoKEnGY — FLOTUS (@FLOTUS) February 11, 2014


Let them eat cake, indeed.

When Michelle Obama walked out to greet the French President, the media swooned. NBC's Shawna Thomas declared "BOW DOWN!" on Twitter when she saw the dress.

HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THE FIRST LADY'S DRESS. #BOWDOWN — Shawna Thomas (@ShawnaNBCNews) February 12, 2014


NBC is the same network that questioned Ann Romney for wearing a $900 designer shirt for an interview with CBS This Morning. The Romneys have donated more than $20 million to charity over their lifetimes and have worked for the majority of their lives in the private sector. The same cannot be said for the Obamas.

Here's my bottom line, I couldn't care less how much Michelle Obama's gown cost. I'd love for every woman to have the opportunity to wear a gown like that in her life. Designer clothes are expensive because of the work that goes into them and I'm happy Caroline Herrera got paid for the work she did. Herrera reaped the reward of having a First Lady wear her art and product thanks to hard work. The issue is the Obamas and President Hollande lecturing the rest of us about how much money we should make, how we spend our money and how much of our money they are entitled to. People like Hollande and the Obamas are either elitist hypocrites or they don't really believe in the socialist policies they preach about and implement for the rest of us.

Editor's note: This post has been updated.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 12000dollardress; boneapptit; bowdown; flotus; flotusdress; francoishollande; michelledress; moochelle; obamadogs
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To: MomwithHope
All cooks are trained in sewing. ;)

/johnny

41 posted on 02/14/2014 2:29:50 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: redhead

Thanks to Obama’s socialist agenda the misery index record held by the Carter administration have been broken, making him the worst president ever in the U.S. Meanwhile Michelle dreams to be recognized as the American Marie Antoinette.

Michelle “Antoinette” Obama the First Lady the World has Been Waiting For

Jeannieology.

AUG/6/2010

http://jeannie-ology.com/?p=487

My interest was piqued upon seeing the large white letters in Vogue that said, “Michelle Obama the First Lady the World’s been Waiting For.” I just had to see what the world was expecting and to find out what I might be overlooking.

I know that Barack fancies himself a global resident, but what does it mean to be a “citizen” of the world? “Obama’s view of “global citizenship… seems to [be] trans-national obligations on such things as income distribution, education, poverty, disease and violence”

(Real Clear Politics, Obama a Citizen of the World, Robert Robb, July 30, 2008).

Obviously, these are all issues that need to be addressed by the global community and will be impacted by our example as a nation giving substance to our rhetoric. Michelle expressed, when speaking about Sasha and Malia in the Talley article, that she hopes, “…all kids will have a feeling that they are citizens of the world.” I would imagine with a husband who is a global citizen and two transnational ingénue daughters, Michelle must view herself as a worldwide resident also.

There is a whole planet just waiting to be absorbed into the “collective” – and who better than Barry and Michelle to welcome them in North, South, East and West with their populist, inner-city, fist-bumping, South Side of Chicago style attitude and especially attire. Who better to bring unity and parity to the world community than an approachable, commoner like Michelle Obama who has graced the pages of People magazine’s Best Dressed List, something that in India used magazine vendors can really relate to.

WP-Bible plugin – 30,000 children die each day due to poverty and they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages.” This is a far cry from the $30,000 a year Sidwell School in Washington DC, world citizens Sasha and Malia attend daily, especially because nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.

In the world that has been awaiting Michelle Obama, every second child lives in poverty and 640 million live without adequate shelter. I wonder if the world’s First Lady was thinking about that as she was waylaid in the Hay-Adams luxury hotel which, “…provides guests with exclusive Etro toiletries, custom Italian bed linens and bath towels, robes and slippers for both adults and children” all at a globally affordable $1,000.00 per night?


42 posted on 02/14/2014 2:36:27 PM PST by Dqban22
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To: afraidfortherepublic
That's a very nice dress -- quite flattering -- but I don't see $12,000 there.

And that's the funny bit. Carolina Herrera is very smart, talented, and hard-working; she creates beautiful stuff that women want, so she has built up a very lucrative business and can charge whatever she wants. That's called capitalism. It's the opposite of what the Obamas and Hollande believe in.

43 posted on 02/14/2014 2:37:54 PM PST by ottbmare (the OTTB mare, now a proud Marine Mom)
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To: Liz
The Obama's are wearing out their welcome. They live in opulence that most of their voters can only dream about. Plus, they are hiking up the price of everything on us so they can introduce to us some sort of paradise that none of us want.

They seem to think that what they have right now they will never lose. But, just like a festering, bacteria-infested boil, it will have to be lanced at some point. And it will happen no matter how the media tries to convince us that there is no stink in the air.

Meanwhile, Moochie smugly dons her $12,000 designer dress with nary a care to the eventual demise.

44 posted on 02/14/2014 3:30:04 PM PST by Slyfox (We want our pre-existing HEALTH INSURANCE back!)
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To: onyx
"I saw it in the window and I couldn't resist."


45 posted on 02/14/2014 3:31:10 PM PST by Rodamala
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To: Kaslin

Most of his “charity” is buying him the role of being a God in the after life.

“”As George Zornick reports (quoting Romney’s trustee, Brad Malt), “Over the entire 20-year period period [of 1990-2009, the Romneys gave to charity an average of 13.45 percent of their adjusted gross income.” To be a Mormon in good standing one must donate 10 percent of one’s gross income to the Mormon church. If Romney did so, that means he gave only 3.45 percent of his vast fortune to all other charities.

Finally, there is the question of whom Romney gives his money to. Business Insider ran the numbers: “The answer appears to be primarily one organization: The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon church. According to tax documents viewed by Business Insider, the vast majority of the money Mitt Romney gave away in 2009 and 2010—80 percent of it—went to the church.”

The same holds true for 2011. As the McClatchy Newspapers noted: “In 2011, the Romney’s charitable cash contributions included $1.115 million to the Mormon church and $214,516 to Tyler Charitable Foundation, a Romney family foundation. The Romneys also claimed a deduction of $920,573 for noncash contributions that were not spelled out in a statement accompanying the return.”

In other words, the Mormon church was the biggest recipient of the Romneys’ largesse. And what does the other main recipient every year, the Tyler Charitable Foundation, do? It makes up for shortcomings in Romney’s donations to his church. According to the Daily Caller, Romney actually fell slightly short of the tithing requirement in 2009. But the Tyler Foundation gives to the Mormon church, and when you add in those contributions as Romney family money, they exceed the threshold. But that, in turn, is true only if you don’t also count the foundation’s income from its investments as Romney family income. If you did, the Romneys would fall well below the tithing requirement.

Here, via Forbes, is a breakdown of where the Tyler Charitable Foundation has given the more than $7 million it doled out since 2000:

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: $4,781,000
2. Brigham Young University: $525,000
3. The United Way: $177,000
4. Right to Play: $111,500
5. The George W. Bush Library: $100,000
6. Operation Kids: $85,000
7. Center For Treatment of Pediatric MS: $75,000
8. Harvard Business School: $70,000
9. City Year: $65,000
10. Deseret International: $50,000
Weber State University: $50,000

As you can see, the majority of the funding goes to the Mormon church. The second-biggest recipient is the Mormon university that Romney attended. Other recipients include Romney’s former business school, and the library of the former president he has an incentive to curry favor with.””

“”In 2010, Mitt Romney took $3 million in charitable deductions on his tax return, against adjusted gross income of $22 million.

$1.5 million was a direct cash donation to the LDS Church

$1.5 million was a stock donation to the Romney’s private foundation, which is called the Tyler Foundation. The Tyler Foundation, in turn, gave away $647,500 in 2010, of which $145,000 went to the church. (The Tyler Foundation is controlled by the Romneys, so any money the Tyler Foundation gives away is effectively money the Romneys are giving away)

In 2010, therefore, Romney gave third parties (other than his foundation) a total of $2.1 million, with a total of $1.7 million going to the church. 78 percent of Romney’s donations in 2010, therefore, went to the church.
In 2009, meanwhile, Romney’s private foundation gave away a total of $631,000. This was made up of four gifts:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ($600,000)

My Sister’s Keeper ($5,000)

The Becket Fund ($25,000)

Mass General Hospital Cancer Center ($1,000)

In 2009, therefore, 95 percent of the money Romney’s foundation gave away went to the church.””


46 posted on 02/14/2014 4:29:41 PM PST by ansel12 (Ben Bradlee -- JFK told me that "he was all for people's solving their problems by abortion".)
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To: ansel12

You really need to get off your RDS.


47 posted on 02/14/2014 5:07:15 PM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin

That tent Moochelle wore was large enough to play a hockey game and invite 17,000 fans.


48 posted on 02/14/2014 5:19:25 PM PST by sergeantdave
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To: JRandomFreeper
I sew myself and remember a thread about sewing awhile back that you commented on so I knew you could. :))
The question is what can't you do?(rhetorical)
49 posted on 02/14/2014 7:33:33 PM PST by MomwithHope (Let's make Mark Levin's The Liberty Amendments a reality!)
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To: MomwithHope
Dance. ;)

/johnny

50 posted on 02/14/2014 7:53:49 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (Gone Galt)
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To: Kaslin

You need to learn to avoid holding making personal attacks and posting untruths, you posted a lie for Romney, I posted the facts to prove my original post.


51 posted on 02/14/2014 8:46:15 PM PST by ansel12 (Ben Bradlee -- JFK told me that "he was all for people's solving their problems by abortion".)
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To: Kaslin

> caviar, quail eggs, rib-eye and chocolate-malted ganache.

Beats the chicken patties I had for supper.


52 posted on 02/14/2014 10:03:13 PM PST by ArcadeQuarters (Starve the RINOs: Not one dollar, not one vote.)
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To: BinaryBoy

It beats me too. I had 3-bean chili. What I had was healthier than what she had.


53 posted on 02/14/2014 10:07:47 PM PST by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: Liz

Winnie Mandela redux!


54 posted on 02/15/2014 3:59:09 AM PST by miss marmelstein (Richard Lives Yet!)
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To: miss marmelstein
Mmmmmm....methinks the O's are being coached by these govt fraud experts.

ON A LEARNING TOUR M/M O pictured w/ Ivory Coast official 2009.

Malibu home of Ivory Coast dictator's son.

The oil-rich Ivory Coast has one of the worst human rights records in Africa whose rulers are accused of funneling millions of public monies into their own pockets. But now it looks like the son of the dictator----Teodoro---whose world—comprised yachts, Bugattis, and Michael Jackson memorabilia—could come crashing down, according to Foreign Policy (via Curbed).

Foreign Policy's Ken Silverstein reported that after a four-year investigation into alleged extortion and laundering of $100 million in the US and "theft of public funds, or other corrupt conduct" back at home, the Justice Department has filed notice of a lawsuit involving the possible seizure of Tedoro's California mansion, and other assets.

And French investigators just seized millions of dollars' worth of his sports cars, while the Spanish government is investigating the entire Obiang clan. Teodoro reportedly hasn't spent much time stateside recently, in part thanks to various legal actions against him.

Just a peek inside the insane world of Teodoro---he first came to the U.S. to attend Pepperdine University in Malibu. While tuition cost just $3,400, he managed to blow through $50,000 in the first five months before dropping out. Source: Business insier--LA Weekly.

Teodoro is listed as the owner of this $35 million mansion on the Malibu coast, which he paid for in cash. It was the most expensive home sold in California in 2006, and has a tennis court, swimming pool and 4-hole golf course.

Teodoro's on the government payroll as "minister of agriculture and forestry," and supposedly makes just $5,000 per month. But his Malibu home contains $60,000 worth of rugs, a $58,000 hom

55 posted on 02/15/2014 4:05:54 AM PST by Liz
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To: miss marmelstein

Cont

Teodoro’s on the government payroll as “minister of agriculture and forestry,” and supposedly makes just $5,000 per month. But his Malibu home contains $60,000 worth of rugs, a $58,000 home theater and a $1,734 pair of wine glasses.


56 posted on 02/15/2014 4:09:08 AM PST by Liz
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To: Liz

So depressing. Not my America anymore.


57 posted on 02/15/2014 6:39:11 AM PST by miss marmelstein (Richard Lives Yet!)
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To: ansel12

You’re highjacking the thread. Try to stay on topic.


58 posted on 02/15/2014 6:53:22 AM PST by subterfuge (CBS NBC ABC FOX AP-- all no different than Pravda.)
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To: subterfuge

No, I’m responding to a huge fraud in the article.

You will have to find some other way to defend Mitt Romney and what he did to the republican party.


59 posted on 02/15/2014 9:36:03 AM PST by ansel12 (Ben Bradlee -- JFK told me that "he was all for people's solving their problems by abortion".)
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To: Ann Archy

She looks like something Christo wrapped.


60 posted on 02/15/2014 9:44:23 AM PST by Fightin Whitey
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