The Obama Presidency Increasingly Resembles a Modern-day Ancien Régime: Extravagant and Out of Touch with the American People
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – NILE GARDINER: What the great French historian Alexis de Tocqueville would make of today’s Obama administration were he alive today is anyone’s guess. But I would wager that the author of L’Ancien Régime and Democracy in America would be less than impressed with the extravagance and arrogance on display among the White House elites that rule America as though they had been handed some divine right to govern with impunity.

It is the kind of impunity that has been highlighted on the world stage this week by Michelle Obama’s hugely costly trip to Spain, which has prompted a New York Post columnist Andrea Tantaros to dub the First Lady a contemporary Marie Antoinette. As The Telegraph reports, while the Obamas are covering their own vacation expenses such as accommodation, the trip may cost US taxpayers as much as $375,000 in terms of secret service security and flight costs on Air Force Two.

The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions. >>> Nile Gardiner | Saturday, August 07, 2010

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

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Sarkozy Told to Prune Cost of Carla’s Flowers
THE SUNDAY TIMES: PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy has been told to trim his flower bill after the first inspection of a French ruler’s expenses revealed that his palace spent £600 a day on bouquets.

Sarkozy ordered the opening of the Elysée Palace accounts as part of the “transparency” he advocates in government. It may have backfired on him by revealing a colossal waste of public money at a time when others are tightening their belts.

The exorbitant florist’s bill can be attributed to Carla Bruni, the president’s wife, a folk singer and former top model who has a passion for freshly cut flowers. Bernadette Chirac, her predecessor, had a similar obsession – particularly for roses – but saved money by growing them in the palace grounds.

Philippe Séguin, the state auditor, recommended cutting food costs as well as the floral bill: the palace always went to the same suppliers, he complained, even if it meant paying twice as much – £170,000 a year at the butcher, £217,000 at the greengrocer and just over £100,000 in cheese shops. >>> Matthew Campbell | Sunday, July 26, 2009

City Bankers Are Already Lining Up for Bonuses Again
After helping the world get into its financial mess, bankers at HSBC are now lining up for renewed bonuses. Photo courtesy of MailOnline
MAIL Online: HSBC bankers are in line for bumper bonus payouts after an 'encouraging' jump in profits.

While the company's performance added impetus to a day of good economic news, the re-emergence of the City's discredited bonus system will be an embarrassment for Gordon Brown, who has promised to outlaw reckless behaviour in the Square Mile.

Taxpayer-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland has already started offering 'guaranteed' bonuses to traders in defiance of promises it made to rein in no-strings-attached rewards.

And Barclays is gearing up for massive payouts after profits rose 15 per cent in the first three months of 2009.

The culture of extravagant bonuses encouraged bankers to take ever bigger risks, laying the ground for the gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. >>> By Simon Duke | Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Les nouveaux riches are as les nouveaux riches do
Such wanton extravagance in the midst of a deep recession, the deepest since the 1930s, when most other people are hurting badly! Such poor taste! (No pun intended.) Such poor judgement! – Mark

MAIL Online: When you're the president of the United States, only the best pizza will do - even if that means flying a chef 860 miles.

Chris Sommers, 33, jetted into Washington from St Louis, Missouri, on Thursday with a suitcase of dough, cheese and pans to to prepare food for the Obamas and their staff.

He had apparently been handpicked after the President had tasted his pizzas on the campaign trail last autumn. Obamas Fly in Chef 860 Miles... Just to Make Pizza >>> By Mail Foreign Service | Saturday, April 10, 2009