NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation, and he's referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet.
But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends." According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.
Reports are calling the lodgings of Obama's Spanish fiesta, the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, "luxurious," "posh" and "a millionaires' playground." Estimated room rate per night? Up to a staggering $2,500. Method of transportation? Air Force Two. Continue reading and comment >>> Andrea Tantaros | Thursday, August 05, 2010
Great comment by Yeaman:
Greetings from the Outback, in my case Texas. Secession talk is heating up. 33% of Texans want to bolt. In Arizona, the number is higher. Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahomans are increasingly fed up with the Indonesian in Chief and the Worst Lady. Laugh all you want libs, but we have the oil and the food. You need what we export far more than we need what you export, which is dirty bankers and vitriol. God Bless the Free Republic of Texas! Viva Tejas! [Source: NY Daily News]
Michelle Obama’s super-glitzy holiday with Sasha in Marbella is probably costing the American taxpayer at least one million dollars. Any estimates which are less than this are risible.
To any person with sound judgement, this is an incredible sum to spend on a holiday in these austere times, especially for someone in public office. The average American is hurting, and hurting badly. How sensible is it, then, for the Prez, or his wife, to go on such an extravagant trip abroad? The fact that it can be done doesn’t mean that it should be done.
Excuse me for asking, but what was the purpose of the trip? Was it to take Sasha on a nice short break? If it was, then Obama and Michelle are guilty of giving their children false values. As the leader of a nation which is broke, and in deep depression, neither he nor his wife should spend taxpayers’ money as though there’s no tomorrow; because at this rate, there really will be no tomorrow!
In times of severe economic hardship, people in public office should show solidarity with the people that put them into office: They need to suffer a little too. That way, they gain in support and respect. The way that the Obamas are doing things, all they do is lose in popularity and increase people’s contempt for them. Obama will surely pay a heavy price at the next election. – © Mark