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Guys, every time the president travels anywhere, it costs a crapload of money for the security, Air Force One, etc. What did you think, that Bush traveled for free? Get real. What do you want the president to do - stay home and not travel anywhere for any reason? Presidential trips are generally part of the official job responsibilities, not a personal vacation.
This article indicates that Obama and Michelle have booked the entire 570 room Taj Mahal Hotel. The cost of that and the security cost bumps the price up to $200 million per day!
Guys, every time the president travels anywhere, it costs a crapload of money for the security, Air Force One, etc. What did you think, that Bush traveled for free? Get real. What do you want the president to do - stay home and not travel anywhere for any reason? Presidential trips are generally part of the official job responsibilities, not a personal vacation.
And what will the President and his small city of sycophants gain for America in return for the $2 Billion dollars of taypayer's money they are spending? Does he really think that Americans are dumb enough to swallow that he is promoting American "exports and jobs" to India? In fact, the White House couldn't think of a justification for the trip until a day ago; they should have spent longer to find an excuse less ludicrous. So India is suddenly going to use American workers for their business jobs? Right. Are our wages that low already?
It IS a vacation. And it is unprecedented in size and scale and cost--Bush never ever got near this level of wastefulness, and I was sure he was the height of arrogance.
Obama is accompanied by his wife AND kids. How do they gain for taxpayers the cost of their trip? A President should only take a trip when he has some vital national function to perform, which is essential to the Country. He isn't negotiating world peace with Russia. He's laying low while the Democrats get slaughtered in the elections, but shows his incredible arrogance by costing taxpayers a fortune while he and his family entertain themselves at our (great) expense.
Think of it this way: if you were elected President, would you take a huge entourage on a 10 day foreign trip at the cost of $2 Billion dollars--all paid for by taxpayers--when the country has been suffering through the worst and longest recession since the Great Depression, with no sign of things getting better?
Hint: if you say yes, then you may have so little ethics and so much arrogance that you'd fit in as a Washington politician.
India is already doing our jobs and has been for near a decade.
Is Obama going to visit all those nice new shiny R&D labs built by American tech companies ?
Is he going to visit those H1B consulting companies to tell them about the great job they are doing sending the skilled workers over here to work ?
I see a lot of useless back and forth on this thread, so, let me put a few things in perspective:
1. Foreign travel for any president is expensive, period. If you go back in history and look at what Bush, or Clinton, or Reagan spent and adjust it for inflation, the numbers are huge.
2. The trip is for 3 days, and so, at 200 million a day, that is 600 million. Read this news story to see how much defense equipment those Indians are planning to buy:
India-US defence ties are multi-billion dollar prospect - The Economic Times (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/India-US-defence-ties-are-multi-billion-dollar-prospect/articleshow/6852457.cms - broken link)
If you can count, that is about 17 billion. These things are all made in USA, so, those are American jobs we are talking about. Several other countries are trying to sell these to the Indians, so, a presidential nudge helps at times.
3. He is spending more time in India's financial capital (Mumbai) than the real capital (New Delhi) because he is carrying a huge trade delegation with him. This also can be good for American business and jobs.
4. He will be looking at doing a civilian nuclear deal with the Indians. More money and jobs for American companies. In case you don't know, defense and nuclear industries still have American jobs.
All American presidents try to bring business to America. What is wrong if he enjoys life a bit with his family at the same time?
We will simply have to pay for the bill before we can see what's in it.....
Simple like that.
India is an expensive place to visit. For one thing, if you think Kobe beef is expense here, wait till you see the price over there.
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