M2RB: Elton John
But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all
By Nile Gardiner
$16.4 trillion –
that’s the latest figure for America’s
massive national debt. Nearly $6
trillion of this debt was racked up in the first term of the
Obama presidency – a 50
percent increase. It is horrifying to imagine what the debt
will be when Obama leaves the White House in 2016, unless Congress has
the willpower to stand in the way.
Meanwhile, as
the world’s superpower is literally drowning in debt, President Obama is
basking in the warmth of the beaches of Hawaii, at an
exclusive resort way beyond the financial reach of most
Americans. The president pays the cost of his own family’s accommodations, but
there are a large number of associated costs which are paid from the public
purse.
What is the
actual cost of Obama’s lavish vacation to the American taxpayer? A staggering
$7 million, according to veteran White House reporter Keith Koffler, who wrote in his blog earlier this week:
In a move that is rich in irony, President Obama
agreed Tuesday night to sign an emergency deficit reduction bill that does almost
nothing to rein in spending and then jetted out to Hawaii to resume his
vacation at an extra cost of more than $3 million to taxpayers.
The price tag is in addition to more than $4 million
that is already being spent on the Obamas’ Hawaii idyll, bringing the total
cost of the excursion to well over $7 million.
The added cost was incurred because by the time the
Obamas return from Hawaii – whenever that is – the president will have used Air
Force One to travel to Honolulu and back twice.
The White House
doesn’t like to publish the costs of presidential vacations, but Koffler
has done the sums:
Air Force One is known to cost about $180,000 an hour
to fly. Based on an estimated 18 hours roundtrip flying time for the jet
between Washington and Honolulu, the travel cost alone of Obama’s decision to
return to Hawaii amounts to around $3.24 million. And that doesn’t include the
price tag for the massive security operation required to move the president or
the cost of the cargo plane that follows Air Force One around.
As
Koffler notes, President Obama could easily have saved
taxpayers a good deal of money:
The Obamas could have saved taxpayers millions by
returning from Hawaii together after Christmas and then resuming their vacation
at one of the many ritzy resorts that lie outside of Washington. If the beach
is a must, even a trip to Florida would have been far less expensive.
Or they could have simply stayed at the White House or
Camp David, each a luxurious government-run installation, billing taxpayers a
relative pittance.
According
to Koffler, "the total cost to taxpayers of Obama’s
vacations to Hawaii since becoming president is likely in excess of $20
million, and possibly much, much more."
The message this
sends is one of sheer contempt for the American taxpayer. $7 million may be
viewed by the White House as a drop in the ocean compared
to the overall size of America’s federal debt, but it is the principle that
counts. The vast majority of American people simply couldn’t afford the kind of
vacation enjoyed by the US president, not least at a time when 12.2 million Americans are still out of
work.
For most of
America’s embattled middle class, who, unlike the president have already
returned to work, this kind of luxury is simply unimaginable in the current
economic climate. And they’ve just been hit hard with a significant rise in
their payroll taxes due to the expiration of the Social Security tax break.
According to the Tax Policy Center, 77
percent of US households will now be paying more in federal
taxes following this week’s fiscal cliff deal.
Barack Obama
benefits from a largely deferential liberal press in the United States which
rarely questions his opulence in office. It would be unthinkable for the
British prime minister to act in the same manner. If David Cameron flew off to
Hawaii and billed the British public £5 million for his Christmas vacation, he
would be out of a job.
President Obama
frequently calls on the American people to make sacrifices, but he is simply
unwilling to lead by example and do so himself. In a speech in Virginia back in
April 2011, Obama
famously declared:
We are going to have to ask everybody to sacrifice.
And if we’re asking community colleges to sacrifice, if we’re asking people who
are going to see potentially fewer services in their neighborhoods to make a
little sacrifice, then we can ask millionaires and billionaires to make a
little sacrifice.
The president is
elected to serve his country, rather than lord over it, a message which appears
to be completely lost on the present White House. The federal government
is simply running out of money, and America faces economic ruin unless spending
is cut dramatically and the vast entitlements system is reformed. Barack
Obama’s Hawaii vacation is merely a symbol of his wider presidency – a culture
of impunity and extraordinary arrogance, reckless spending, a striking lack of
accountability, and a shameless let them eat cake mentality. America’s middle
class deserves to be treated better than this from a president who fails to
practice what he preaches.
Sacrifice - Elton John
It's a human sign
When things go wrong
When the scent of her lingers
And temptation's strong
Into the boundary
Of each married man
Sweet deceit comes calling
And negativity lands
Cold cold heart
Hard done by you
Some things look better baby
Just passing through
And it's no sacrifice
Just a simple word
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds
But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all
Mutual misunderstanding
After the fact
Sensitivity builds a prison
In the final act
We lose direction
No stone unturned
No tears to damn you
When jealousy burns
When things go wrong
When the scent of her lingers
And temptation's strong
Into the boundary
Of each married man
Sweet deceit comes calling
And negativity lands
Cold cold heart
Hard done by you
Some things look better baby
Just passing through
And it's no sacrifice
Just a simple word
It's two hearts living
In two separate worlds
But it's no sacrifice
No sacrifice
It's no sacrifice at all
Mutual misunderstanding
After the fact
Sensitivity builds a prison
In the final act
We lose direction
No stone unturned
No tears to damn you
When jealousy burns
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