Well, well, well. Isn’t that interesting? For those of you who might have been wondering just how the government is spending your money, Judicial Watch has shed a little bit of light on the subject. In just one stunning example of government waste, the watchdog organization has found that FLOTUS’ trip to España wasn’t exactly fiscally responsible. Via Jim Geraghty:
The following are highlights from the U.S. Air Force records, which indicate a total cost of $213,124.15:
According to U.S. Department of Defense’s 2010 published hourly rates, the total cost of flying Michelle Obama and her guests from Camp Andrews to Malaga and then to Mallorca and back to the United States was $199,323.75. This is based on approximately 17 hours and 15 minutes of total flying time.The 15-member flight crew stayed at Tryp Guadalmar, a nearby motel. Lodging cost was $10,290.60 and car rental cost was $2,633.50. Food cost was $876.30, including $57.68 for four bottles of maple syrup and a package of pancake mix.
The U.S. Air Force concealed the number of civilian passengers who accompanied Mrs. Obama on the five-day trip, citing an exemption to FOIA law. (The New York Times previously reported that Mrs. Obama brought along one of her daughters and “two friends and four of their daughters, as well as a couple of aides and a couple of advance staff members.”)
Secret Service records, meanwhile, show that the costs to the agency for the vacation were $254,461.20. This total includes $26,670.61 for a chauffeur tour of Costa del Sol and $50,078.78 for a travel planning company SET P&V, S.L. (George Soros is 50% owner of the travel company.) Taxpayers also paid the bill for separate lodging for a dog and its handler.
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To paraphrase her husband, at a certain point, you’ve spent enough taxpayer money on your vacations. The president and his wife like to remind us that they didn’t always have it so easy, that they weren’t born with silver spoons in their mouths. But it seems that they’re perfectly content to use our money to make up for what they lacked in their youth. Silver spoons, silver tongues, silver everything!
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