Barack Obama looking uncool
After repeatedly objecting
to Freedom Of Information Act requests, regarding expenses
related to luxury vacations taken by U.S. President Obama and
his family, documents have finally been released due to a
Judicial Watch lawsuit. It immediately becomes obvious why Obama
and his Secret Service fought to unlawfully and unethically hide
the files in violation of congressional law. Some of the hidden
files now reveal the Obamas have cost the American taxpayer a
whopping $70,880,035.78
in luxury vacations 99% of the
world could only dream of taking.
Yes, because kicking your foot
out like you have a Charlie Horse will help the ball go in the
hole
At a time when the economy
is bad in America, many people are struggling to make ends meet
and a record number of individuals are below the poverty line,
it is highly inappropriate that the Obamas are taking such
luxury vacations. The Obama's Christmas vacation in Hawaii a
year ago cost the U.S. taxpayers $8,000,000. Haven't they ever
heard of a staycation, where you stay your backside at home,
because you can't afford to pay for an out of town vacation.
Obama posing for the cameras on
one of his multi-million dollar vacations
There are so many homeless,
hungry people in America that it is messed up to think the
Obamas spent that much money on vacations. It is inexcusable and
shows a great lack of conscience. I'm not stating they can't
have a vacation, but $70,880,035.78
worth is egregiously excessive by any decent person's standards
(and some of the expenses remain hidden, as 28 incriminating
pages have been held back). If I were in office anywhere in the
world I would have never done something like that at the
taxpayers' expense. That money could have been put to far
greater use.
Obama in Hawaii with his hand
in his pocket...and that of the American taxpayers
Side Bar:
What was the sense of Congress enacting the Freedom Of
Information Act, when agencies like the FBI, Secret Service, NSA
and CIA routinely flout it in violation of the law. Ask any
journalist or blogger who has tried to obtain documents under
the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and you will be apprised of the fact the government is one of the least
transparent in the world, despite claiming to be otherwise.
Obama in Hawaii wasting
millions in taxpayer money
Federal agencies will lie,
hide files, move files out of the office, misfile items under
deliberately misspelled names so when the FOIA request is
submitted they can pretend in writing it can't be found or does
not exist. If it is incriminating to someone well known, you pay
certain federal employees the right bribe and they will hide the
files, even if there is a public threat to health, life and
safety. They will hide the criminal conduct of people and
companies greatly endangering the public's health and safety.
They will hide the crimes of the rich and or famous. They will
suppress serious investigations into financial crimes. It is
completely disgraceful, dishonorable and dishonest.
Shhh, don't tell the American
people I'm ripping them off
However, a time is coming
when some government employees will face serious federal charges
in criminal court for hiding terrible FOIA files, because you
can only disgrace Congress so much to the nation and the world
via your bad behavior they are legally charged with keeping
watch over and in check, before they sacrifice your freedom to
protect the legislature's name and image.
STORY SOURCE
Judicial Watch: Secret Service
Expenses for Obama’s 2013 Hawaii Christmas Vacation Cost
Taxpayers $316,698.03, Taxpayers Paid Over $8 Million for 17-Day
Vacation
DECEMBER 29, 2015 - (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch
announced today that it recently received expense records from
the Department of Homeland Security revealing that Secret
Service expenses for the Obama family vacation to Honolulu
during December 2013-January 2014 cost taxpayers at least
$316,698.03. These new expenses bring the total for the Hawaii
Christmas vacation trip to $8,098,060.33. The Secret Service
waited nearly two years to produce the requested numbers to
Judicial Watch.
The heavily redacted records were obtained on December 28 in
response to a January 6, 2014, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request. According to the records:
$91,751.78 in car rental expenses were paid. $224,974.05 in
accommodation expenses were paid to Cabana Girl, LLC and
Paradise Luxury Rentals. The documents are heavily redacted and
the Secret Service is withholding 28 pages in their entirety.
Saying he was “eager to skip town” Obama took his family to
Honolulu on December 20, 2013, for a 17-day Christmas vacation.
As reported by The Washington Post:
The presidential motorcade ferried the Obamas across Oahu,
the state’s most populous island, to the well-to-do oceanfront
neighborhood of Kailua, where as in years past they have rented
a private home for what this time will be a 17-day holiday
vacation. For the sixth straight year, Obama plans to spend
Christmas and New Year’s in Hawaii, gathering with extended
family and friends — and, yes, perfecting his golf game.
In March 2014, Judicial Watch released flight expense records
from the U.S. Department of the Air Force revealing that for
this Hawaii vacation the Obamas incurred $7,781,361.30 in flight
expenses alone (36.9 hours at $210,877 an hour). This was the
first Judicial Watch FOIA request about Obama’s security costs
the Secret Service has answered since July, 2014.
Last month, Judicial Watch separately sued the Department of
Homeland Security for ignoring 19 other FOIA requests. The FOIA
lawsuit asks the court to enjoin the Secret Service from
continuing to withhold responsive documents from Judicial Watch
(Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No.
1:15-cv-01983)). The known total expense to the American
taxpayers thus far for all Obama travel is now $70,880,035.78.
“It seems our lawsuits finally got the attention of the
Secret Service. It is easy to see why the Secret Service,
reeling from its own scandals, covered up these outrageous
expense numbers for just one of Obama’s luxury Christmas
vacation,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The
$317,000 in Secret Service expenses are only the tip of the
iceberg for the true cost of Obama’s 2013 vacation in Hawaii,
which has now skyrocketed to $8,098,060. It is nice to know that
Obama’s ‘tradition’ of Christmas vacations in Hawaii comes
courtesy of overburdened taxpayers.”
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