Teh One Who Knocks
05-01-2014, 11:23 AM
By Francesca Chambers - The Daily Mail
http://i.imgur.com/kGfci1x.jpg
The White House spent $2,952,278 in flight expenses this year for two trips President Barack Obama took on which he spent a large chunk of his time playing golf.
Obama billed both trips as official business, but he spent more time golfing than he did participating in government meetings, government oversight organization Judicial Watch reports.
The conservative organization obtained the cost of Obama's Air Force 1 trips through Freedom of Information Act requests. The cost per flying hour of the president's plane is $210,877 an hour, the Department of the Air Force told Judicial Watch.
The cost per flying hour includes fuel, food consumed on the flight and maintenance to the plane, the Department of the Air Force said in its response. It does not include the cost of the cargo plane that accompanies the president, as The White House Dossier points out.
The two trips in question occurred in February and March of this year when the President flew to Palm Springs, California, and Key Largo, Florida, respectively.
The first trip took place over President's Day weekend from February 17- 20. The total flight cost for this trip was $2,066,594.60, Judicial Watch reports.
On the first day of that trip, President Obama arrived in Fresno, California, at 2.30 pm local time. There he met with community leaders at a water facility before touring a local farm and making public remarks on the state's water crisis.
'It can’t just be a matter of there’s going to be less and less water so I’m going to grab more and more of a shrinking share of water,' Obama said at the event. 'Instead what we have to do is all come together and figure out how we all are going to make sure that agricultural needs, urban needs, industrial needs, environmental and conservation concerns are all addressed.'
Obama then flew to Palm Springs, where he he met with King Abdullah II of Jordan. The two had a working dinner that begin at 7.50 pm local time.
The President's public schedule does not say when their meeting ended nor does it say how he spent Saturday, Sunday or the first half of Monday, a federal holiday, before he left Palm Springs at 2 pm local time.
http://i.imgur.com/qqzazDf.jpg
Time Magazine reports that Obama spent those three days golfing with friends at two of the area's exclusive golf clubs - Sunnylands and Porcupine Creek. Neither are open to the public.
Obama's outings drew ire immediately afterward because the area's golf clubs are a contributing factor to the region's water crisis.
Each golf course Obama visited uses an average of one million gallons of water a day to keep the grass green. The courses use three to four times more water per day than the normal American golf courses because of the area's hot, dry climate, Time reports.
The second trip, which occurred less than a month later from March 7-9, cost $885,683.40 in flight expenses, the watchdog group said.
For that trip, the First Family joined the president. The Obama's arrived in Homestead, Florida, on Friday at 1.40 pm eastern time. The President and the First Lady spoke at a high school at 2.25 pm. There are no public events on the President's schedule after that until Monday morning, when he is listed as having received his daily briefing at the White House at 10 am.
The White House said Obama had 'a bit of down time in the warm weather with his wife and daughters' that weekend.
The Obama's stayed at the Ocean Reef Club, where the president played two rounds of golf with friends.
The First Family was accompanied on that trip by 50 secret service agents and five government helicopters, the Washington Times reports.
'Only President Obama would deliver a brief speech about education and then have the nerve to jet over to the posh Ocean Reef Clubs — an exclusive members-only resort for the wealthy — for a quick vacation,' said Jahan Wilcox, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, in March of the trip.
Other costs for the trips such as food and lodging are unknown, but Judicial Watch says that the President, Vice President and their immediate families have spent upward of $40 million since 2009 on taxpayer funded trips.
The Obama's most expensive trips were in 2013 when they went to Africa and Honolulu, Hawaii, the reports says.
http://i.imgur.com/S861uht.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/kGfci1x.jpg
The White House spent $2,952,278 in flight expenses this year for two trips President Barack Obama took on which he spent a large chunk of his time playing golf.
Obama billed both trips as official business, but he spent more time golfing than he did participating in government meetings, government oversight organization Judicial Watch reports.
The conservative organization obtained the cost of Obama's Air Force 1 trips through Freedom of Information Act requests. The cost per flying hour of the president's plane is $210,877 an hour, the Department of the Air Force told Judicial Watch.
The cost per flying hour includes fuel, food consumed on the flight and maintenance to the plane, the Department of the Air Force said in its response. It does not include the cost of the cargo plane that accompanies the president, as The White House Dossier points out.
The two trips in question occurred in February and March of this year when the President flew to Palm Springs, California, and Key Largo, Florida, respectively.
The first trip took place over President's Day weekend from February 17- 20. The total flight cost for this trip was $2,066,594.60, Judicial Watch reports.
On the first day of that trip, President Obama arrived in Fresno, California, at 2.30 pm local time. There he met with community leaders at a water facility before touring a local farm and making public remarks on the state's water crisis.
'It can’t just be a matter of there’s going to be less and less water so I’m going to grab more and more of a shrinking share of water,' Obama said at the event. 'Instead what we have to do is all come together and figure out how we all are going to make sure that agricultural needs, urban needs, industrial needs, environmental and conservation concerns are all addressed.'
Obama then flew to Palm Springs, where he he met with King Abdullah II of Jordan. The two had a working dinner that begin at 7.50 pm local time.
The President's public schedule does not say when their meeting ended nor does it say how he spent Saturday, Sunday or the first half of Monday, a federal holiday, before he left Palm Springs at 2 pm local time.
http://i.imgur.com/qqzazDf.jpg
Time Magazine reports that Obama spent those three days golfing with friends at two of the area's exclusive golf clubs - Sunnylands and Porcupine Creek. Neither are open to the public.
Obama's outings drew ire immediately afterward because the area's golf clubs are a contributing factor to the region's water crisis.
Each golf course Obama visited uses an average of one million gallons of water a day to keep the grass green. The courses use three to four times more water per day than the normal American golf courses because of the area's hot, dry climate, Time reports.
The second trip, which occurred less than a month later from March 7-9, cost $885,683.40 in flight expenses, the watchdog group said.
For that trip, the First Family joined the president. The Obama's arrived in Homestead, Florida, on Friday at 1.40 pm eastern time. The President and the First Lady spoke at a high school at 2.25 pm. There are no public events on the President's schedule after that until Monday morning, when he is listed as having received his daily briefing at the White House at 10 am.
The White House said Obama had 'a bit of down time in the warm weather with his wife and daughters' that weekend.
The Obama's stayed at the Ocean Reef Club, where the president played two rounds of golf with friends.
The First Family was accompanied on that trip by 50 secret service agents and five government helicopters, the Washington Times reports.
'Only President Obama would deliver a brief speech about education and then have the nerve to jet over to the posh Ocean Reef Clubs — an exclusive members-only resort for the wealthy — for a quick vacation,' said Jahan Wilcox, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, in March of the trip.
Other costs for the trips such as food and lodging are unknown, but Judicial Watch says that the President, Vice President and their immediate families have spent upward of $40 million since 2009 on taxpayer funded trips.
The Obama's most expensive trips were in 2013 when they went to Africa and Honolulu, Hawaii, the reports says.
http://i.imgur.com/S861uht.jpg