How many votes will this cost the Dems in November?
First Lady's Most Excellent Spanish Adventure Will Cost US Taxpayers Over $200,000
By Jim Hoft
This week's First Family's vacation will cost American taxpayers over $200,000.
Let them eat cake.
No ordinary holidaymaker: Michelle Obama (in bright top with dark belt) is surrounded by a substantial security detail (wearing sunglasses) in the city of Grenada, Spain. (Daily Mail)
Michelle Obama's excursion to Spain will cost American taxpayers over $200,000.
The Daily Mail reported:
Michelle Obama today faced a fresh wave of attacks over her lavish break in Spain with 40 friends which has cost U.S. taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds.
The First Lady has been lambasted for her extravagance at a time when the economy is still struggling. One blogger went so far as to brand her a modern-day Marie Antoinette.
The exact cost of the trip is unclear as Mrs Obama, 46, and her friends are footing personal expenses – including accommodation at Marbella's five-star Hotel Villa Padierna – themselves.
But the taxpayer will have to pick up the tab for the First Lady's 68-strong security detail, her personal staff – and the use of presidential jet Air Force Two.
The cost of accommodating the secret service team runs at around £172 each a day which amounts to nearly £60,000 for the length of the summer break.
Use of Air Force Two, the Air Force version of a 757, comes in at £91,900 for the round trip. This does not include time on the ground.
The American public will also cover the cost of the only official part of the holiday, a visit to the Spanish royal family on the island of Majorca.
A conservative estimate puts the total amount at around £150,000.
Or roughly $235,500. |
