Obama’s Hawaii Trips Cost More Than Palin’s Clothes

[kshillbillys]

Obama's Hawaii Trips Cost More Than Palin's Clothes

Sunday, October 26, 2008 3:21 PM

By: Ronald Kessler 



Barack Obama's trips to Hawaii on a chartered Boeing 757 each cost more than twice the price of Sarah Palin's new clothes.

Brad Blakeman, who was in charge of scheduling for President Bush, says a Boeing 757 costs about $20,000 an hour for fuel, crew, and maintenance. Since a trip to Hawaii entails 10 hours of flying time from Chicago, the total cost for each round-trip comes to about $400,000.

Obama used the Boeing 757 for trips to Hawaii over the summer for a vacation and again last week to see his failing grandmother. Admirable though that visit was, "By Obama using a private jet to go on a purely personal visit to see his grandma, he's wasting not only energy, but he's using the money that his supporters have given him for campaign purposes," Blakeman says. "It's a purely personal visit paid for with campaign funds."

On the other hand, the media are highlighting the Republican National Committee's purchase of $150,000 in clothes for Palin, even though the dresses will be donated to charities. The New York Times played the story on page one.

"They're picking on Palin, who was provided a wardrobe by the RNC strictly for political purposes, and it was always intended that these garments would be then given to charity," Blakeman says. "So there's a benefit that's going to charity, not a benefit that Palin will have after the election. There was a need for it because she's a modest person who didn't have an extensive wardrobe to do 24/7 campaigning."

To pick on Palin without going after Obama's plane trips is "an absolute journalistic abuse," Blakeman says. "This is the same plane that he took to Hawaii when he went on vacation. In the summertime, when gas was soaring and Americans were having to pinch their pennies, this guy gets on his campaign plane and goes to Hawaii on vacation. He did a couple campaign stops in a state that is not a swing state and is a guaranteed win for Obama. That was clearly to cover the tracks of this vacation."

Blakeman notes that at the height of the gasoline price surge, Obama suggested that Americans check their vehicle's tire pressure as a way of conserving fuel.

"I wonder if he checked the tires on his jumbo jet before taking off for a purely personal visit?" Blakeman says. "The way he spends campaign money is a direct reflection of how he will spend ours. He could have easily flown commercial or taken a much smaller corporate aircraft that would cost a fraction of a 757."

Ironically, it was Palin as governor who saved money for Alaskans by selling the state's jet and instead flying commercial.

Kellyanne Conway, one of the most respected Republican pollsters, says the media's attack on Palin's clothes is an example of elitist snobbery or "classism." Noting the media's treatment of her, "I can't believe her own family still approves of her, after the unprecedented, personal and relentless attacks that this woman has undergone," Conway says.

Besides attacks on Palin over her clothes, Conway cites snide remarks about "the way she speaks, her husband's lack of a college degree, the barefoot and pregnant 17-year-old daughter, you know who hunts moose anyway? The classism is so raw and unapologetic, so unconsidered and so undisguised."


Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. 

[Teresa]

Kellyanne Conway, one of the most respected Republican pollsters, says the media's attack on Palin's clothes is an example of elitist snobbery or "classism." Noting the media's treatment of her, "I can't believe her own family still approves of her, after the unprecedented, personal and relentless attacks that this woman has undergone," Conway says.

Besides attacks on Palin over her clothes, Conway cites snide remarks about "the way she speaks, her husband's lack of a college degree, the barefoot and pregnant 17-year-old daughter, you know who hunts moose anyway? The classism is so raw and unapologetic, so unconsidered and so undisguised."

There you go............................ typical insecure women. Sarah Palin is everything that they are not.. and they just can't stand it.

You go Sarah.!!

Barack flying private jet... Michelle having a 400$ room service snack...


Like I say..They are laughing all the way to the white house. Add Pelosi.. Reid... we are going to be taken for the ride of our life ladies and gentlemen..

[Catwoman]

Ah, ah, ah...we're just spreading the wealth around, Teresa, right??  What a bunch of hypocrites both the press and the Obaminables are!

[sixdogsmom]

Oops! No taxpayer moneys were spent on the Hawaii trip! Sorry!

Palins' clothes were paid for with RNC funds which were matching funds from the McCain campaign. So $75,000.00 worth of those clothes belong to the taxpayers who donated to the presidential campaigns. Oops again?? Clothing is a non-allowable expense is why the RNC got busy and said that the clothing would be donated to charity.

[pam]

LOL, this stuff is kinda funny y'all. You know it is There is absolutely no difference between democrat or republican when it comes to politicians wastin money on stupid stuff! Especially somebody ELSES money. You all are gettin all worked up over nothin basically because neither party is gonna change, whoever is up there in DC is still gonna take advantage of havin taxpayers money and access to everything under the sun! If Obama gets elected HE'LL waste your money on stuff you don't like and can't afford yourself.....If McCain gets elected he's gonna do the same thing!

Y'all think I'm just poppin off when I say throw ALL the bums out and start over but I'm NOT, the only way to get things changed for the better in this country is to start over from scratch. Make the politicians honest by changin the way we value people, instead of valuing somebody because they have a bunch of money and wear clothes with some goobers name on them, value the man or woman who is in government to make a difference, who has a JOB, who thinks they should just serve instead of bein PAID a premium to serve.

Rich politicians who have been politicians for generations are not what makes America America! The guy workin at the station, or the guy farmin, or the chick workin at the grocery store, the mom raisin her kids to be responsible people, the dad teachin his kids to be responsible people, the people who get up every mornin and go to work to make the money that ends up in the hands of the corporation owners, THOSE are the people who make America  what it was, is, and always will be( if we can just keep the stupid politicians under control that is) They work FOR US! It's got turned around bass-ackwards in this country...we keep workin harder so we can support THEM in the manner to which we have let them become accustomed to.
We have basically turned the government into the very thing we fought the revolution to escape from.

This may not be the best place for this but it was this thread that got me thinkin about it so.......

[Diane Amberg]

If one donates to a national political campaign, one should know that there are only a few rules as to how that money can be spent. Don't want it wasted? Don't donate! It's your choice.

[Teresa]

I think Palin has proved that she works FOR the people.. and she did a pretty good job of "throwing the bums out"....and gave the people back money so that THEY could decide where to spend it....not take it and let the choice few of the government decide where it should be wasted. 

[pam]

She may have, some. They say she did. Doin it in Alaska or any other state is a wee bit different than doin it in Washington, she's not gonna have any real power there, she was top dog in Alaska. Can't do it from the top down in Washington,the corruption etc. has been dug in for about a century and a half! has to be from the bottom up. But that's just my opinion and most people think I'm wrong. LOL

[Teresa]

But ya gotta start somewhere Pam. And she will have some power with John McCain and if we can get some more bipartisan people in the Congress.. ( something Barack will not do) maybe it can start to shift some. If everyone just says it can't be done..and not rattle the cages..then the corrupt just keep getting by with it.
I think at least half of the people in the USA are getting pretty fed up with it. ..and are ready for some good old fashioned change and cage rattling ass kickins'.