Posted on 08/08/2010 9:45:44 AM PDT by Schnucki
Michelle Obama is under fire from her husband's foes for the expense to American taxpayers of taking her younger daughter Sasha on a "girls' holiday" with friends to a luxurious Spanish retreat.
Andrea Tantaros, a Republican party strategist, caricatured the First Lady as a "modern-day Marie Antoinette" in a scathing New York newspaper column. Some among a flurry of newspaper and television reports, have estimated the cost to the American taxpayer of her entourage's trip at $375,000, drawing criticism as much of the US is mired in economic gloom.
Her stay at the lavish Villa Padierna in the hills above Marbella – where rooms cost up to $2,000 a night – has coincided with the news that the US lost 131,000 jobs last month, significantly more than expected.
President Barack Obama struggled to put a positive gloss on the numbers. "The road to recovery doesn't follow a straight line," he acknowledged on Friday.
But the blanket coverage of his wife's five-star Mediterranean break – including private viewings of the Alhambra palace in Granada and an expected lunch with the Spanish royal family on Majorca today – could not have contrasted more sharply with the bad economic news being battled by the President.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, declined to comment on Mrs Obama's holiday, saying "she is a private citizen and is the mother of a daughter on a private trip". But officials have quietly been briefing that some reports of the costs are exaggerated.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
This is what I want to know Who in the hell did she meet with and what was the purpose of this trip It was not a vacation. Is Michell our defacto Secretary of State
Non elected private citizens should pay their own way!
Weren’t they just in Maine on vacation? Is this a vacation from a vacation?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2566647/posts
Pleasure and Vacation Policy Michelle (Why is Michelle Reportedly Meeting Arab Officials In Spain?)
It’s not even the cost to the taxpayers that really bothers me, I understand that all First Families take vacations on the taxpayers’ dime.
It’s the fact that these same people were the ones telling everybody they should go vacation on the Gulf of Mexico.
And instead of helping the US economy by spending that money in the country, they are spending it overseas.
She never learned to (as Darrell Royal use to say about getting to the endzone) “act like you’ve been there before”
Doesn't flying jets contribute to global warming.
Where is the “SACRIFICE” she gave a speech on?
Remember British Prime Minister Cameron came to the U.S. a few weeks ago in a commercial British Airlines jet.
The danger for the Obamas is that the trip may feed perceptions they are out of touch with struggling American families. "This in and of itself doesn't hurt President Obama, but it plants a seed in voters' minds ... that 'they're not like me,' " said Chris Wilson, a Republican pollster.
In fact, presidential travel is paid for by taxpayers---not the First Lady's travel. However, Secret Service and the WH govt employees she brought on the trip occupying about 60 rooms in the posh hotel will be paid for by taxpayers. A 15-vehicle convoy shuttled the entourage around.
=========================================
The opulence of the The five-star Villa Padierna in Marbella, Spain has drawn scrutiny. The Hotel Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton resort in the mountains outside Marbella has two golf courses, a posh spa with Turkish baths, views of the Mediterranean Sea and a high-end restaurant specializing in avant-garde fare. Room rates start at $400 and rise to $6,500 for a two-bedroom villa with a private pool and 24-hour butler service.
That covers the situation well, and I concur.
The First Ladies behavior is elite arrogance; pure and simple. Do what I say, not what I do. Soon, the piper will need to be paid. He that serves God for money will serve the devil for more of the same.
Michelle’s answer to your question: “Sticks and stones. Why don’t you eat cake?”
This cow makes Imelda Marcos look good.
More importantly, just what the hell is she doing meeting with the Saudis?
The Alhambra (Arabic: الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrā' , literally "the red one"), the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra (الْقَلْعَةُ ٱلْحَمْرَاءُ, Al-Qal'at al-Ḥamrā' , "the red fortress"), is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, occupying the top of the hill of the Assabica on the southeastern border of the city of Granada, now in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.
ANYONE who would criticize ANY “person of color” for ANYTHING is a RACIST.
>>>”she is a private citizen on a private trip with her daughter?
What????? Does that mean the trip is being “privately” paid for?????
If it it is tax payer funded, it ain’t private!
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.