SACRIFICE: Obama & First Family Trip to Africa Will Cost U.S. Taxpayers Between $60 and $100 Million

Title this one, Sequester, what sequester? Or, It’s Good to be King. Or, You Can Go Home Again  ;-)

As reported at the Washington Post, President Barack Obama and his families trip to Africa will be one of the most expensive trips ever and cost the American tax payers between $60 and $100 million. That is correct. As millions of Americans are unemployed, under-employed, and struggle to get by on a day to day basis. This takes place as a record number of Americans are on food stamps and disability. This occurs as so-called sequestration has caused government departments to cut back and furlough workers. Barack Obama has said in the past that every one has to have skin in the game and must sacrifice? That is everyone but him. As Weasel Zippers states, “Just as long as the King and Queen of America enjoy themselves.” This man truly is a community agitator. Who does this at a time that the United States finds itself in record debt?

So let’s understand this, fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president’s airspace, a Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency but yet Americans were left to die in Benghazi without any military help within an 8 hour range? Really? Furthermore, we are in the midst of questioning the IRS for their lavish and over the top wasteful spending, yet Obama’s jaunt to Africa gets the rubber stamp of approval? The LEFT will be quick to say, well Bush did it. Is that really a defense? I thought Obama wasn’t W? We realize that other presidents have gone on expensive trips as well, but this president is not supposed to be like others. Obama says he cares about the poor and the middle class. Obama claims that he identifies with the common man and plays class warfare. However, this imperial, do as I say, not as I do, let them eat cake president just snubs his nose at the American people and does any damn thing he wants at the expense of ‘We the People”. What a disgrace.

Hundreds of U.S. Secret Service agents will be dispatched to secure facilities in Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. A Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center, will be stationed offshore in case of an emergency.

Military cargo planes will airlift in 56 support vehicles, including 14 limousines and three trucks loaded with sheets of bullet­proof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the first family will stay. Fighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president’s airspace, so they can intervene quickly if an errant plane gets too close.

The elaborate security provisions — which will cost the government tens of millions of dollars — are outlined in a confidential internal planning document obtained by The Washington Post. While the preparations appear to be in line with similar travels in the past, the document offers an unusual glimpse into the colossal efforts to protect the U.S. commander in chief on trips abroad.

[...]

Obama’s trip could cost the federal government $60 million to $100 million based on the costs of similar African trips in recent years, according to one person familiar with the journey, who was not authorized to speak for attribution. The Secret Service planning document, which was provided to The Post by a person who is concerned about the amount of resources necessary for the trip, does not specify costs.

The Weekly Standard reports that after the WAPO questioned the costs of a planned family safari, the White House nixed the plan. So does that mean if we question the entire trip, they will cancel this ridiculous, over-priced boondoggle as well?

Barack Obama Says at Fundraiser for Democratic Senatorial Campaign in Palo Alto, CA … “We Don’t Want to Tax All Businesses Out of Business”

THE COMMUNITY AGITATOR IN ACTION, HE SAID WHAT?

You just can’t make this stuff up. As reported at CNS News, President Barack Obama said at a Democratic Senatorial campaign fundraiser in Palo Alto, CA that, “We [Democrats] don’t want to tax all businesses out of business.” HUH? Taking Obama at his word, his own words, that would mean that he is admitting he wants to tax some business out of business. And we wonder why the economy in the United States has just been awful and has not gotten any better since Obama has been president. Welcome to the non-existent Obama job recovery which has been the worst job recovery ever. Is it any wonder why so many Americans are unemployed, so many Americans are on food stamps and so many Americans have just given up looking for employment. Obama actually wants to tax some businesses out of business. This is just unreal.

President Barack Obama says Democrats “don’t want to tax all businesses out of business.”

“I know that there are a few Republicans here in the audience,” Obama said Friday at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign in Palo Alto, Ca. “If you talk to us, it turns out we’re pretty common-sense folks.

“We don’t think government can do everything,” he said.  “We don’t think that top-down solutions are the right way to go.  We believe in the free market.  We believe in a light touch when it comes to regulations.”

“We don’t want to tax all businesses out of business,” Obama said.  “But we do think that there’s a role to play for government.”

So America, how’s that “Hopey-Changey” stuff working out for you?

HARRIS POLL … Only a Third of US Adults Qualify as Very Happy … Minorities Show Particularly Pronounced Declines in the Past Two Years

Hey minorities, how’s that “Hopey-Changey” thing working out for ya?

Even though minorities have voted overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama and Democrats, their quality of “happiness” has declined in the past two years. In the 2012 election, 93% of blacks and 71% of Latinos voted for Barack Obama, yet they are more unhappy now than in 2011. Don’t ask for things, they might come true. This is what happens when you sell your souls to one party and they know you are a sure vote. When will minorities understand that Obama and Democrats just make campaign promises and then one they have been elected, forget anything that was promised. Black and Hispanic unemployment  is among the hardest hit by the failed Obama economy. But I thought Obama was going to fix all your problems and make the ills of society go away?

2008 – I don’t have to worry about putting gas in my car or worry about paying my mortgage. If I help him, he’ll help me … LOL, wanna bet?

Maybe if minorities stopped voting for Democrats and actually saw what the other party could offer them, maybe they might be more happy. But sorry, hard to feel any sympathy of folks who vote in lock-step for one party and then complain that they are still unhappy.

A Harris Poll of 2,345 U.S. adults surveyed online April 10-15 by Harris Interactive found certain groups, such as minorities, recent graduates and the disabled, trended downward in the last couple of years.

The Role of Politics

Minorities show particularly pronounced declines in happiness in the two years since the Happiness Index was last measured, with especially low happiness levels observed among the Hispanic American population; while it is important to note that a causal link cannot be established, it may not be a coincidence that this drop coincides with a political landscape that has seen frequent, sometimes contentious, discussion of immigration policy in recent months. Other findings include: African-Americans appear to be less happy than in 2011, with 36% qualifying as very happy – down from 44% in 2011. However, though happiness is down among them, they remain roughly as happy as whites (34%); in contrast, fewer than three in ten Hispanic Americans (28%) are very happy. This represents not only a decline from 2011 (35%) but also a significantly lower percentage than seen among either whites or African-Americans. Among Americans with disabilities, the percentage of those very happy has dropped from 34% to 31%- another decline which may have ties to cuts or feared cuts in services as a result of the sequester.

What, you mean being on welfare, unemployment, food stamps, disability and being dependent on the federal “Nanny state” government does not make individuals happy?

Politico Reports Washington, DC Has Turned on Barack Obama … Rats Fleeing the S.S Obama … Obama Knows Nothing

Is it true, has DC turned on Barack Obama … Can You Say Watergate II? Are the rats jumping off the SS. Obama?

With the Obama administration facing three scandals simultaneously, Benghazi-gate, IRS-gate and AP-gate, the good ship Democrat S.S. Obama is looking more like the RMS Titanic these days. Barack Obama is beginning to make Richard Nixon look like a choir boy. But what did everyone expect, Obama’s “Chicago-style” politics has been taking place for years. It is only now that the MSM is being forced to cover it and Democrats are forced to acknowledge it. Democrats are fleeing the ship and the liberal MSM seems not far behind. So is as the Politico asks, has DC turned on Obama? I am not sure if I buy some of the Politico premise that the “establishment” Democrats and the MSM did not like Obama. Sorry, they have bent over backwards for this man and shoved legislation like Obamacare down the throats of Americans. The MSM has carried the water for this president and had they done their job, as they are being forced to now, Barack Obama may never have been elected in 2008 and definitely not in 2012. Democrats are fleeing Obama because “The One” is a lame duck, second term president with no more elections. However, Democrats who want to stay in power see Obama and his far too many scandals as an anchor. The MSM, after all the propaganda that they have spewed on to “We the People,” the AP scandal has forced them into a “come to Jesus” moment. Suddenly, the folks that made Obama have been slighted, more than normal by this administration. The MSM has suddenly realized that they have been defending Richard Milhous Nixon.

The one thing that rings most true in all of this is that Conservative and Tea Party folks have been vindicated in their complaints about President Barack Obama and his administration. The Left, Democrats and the MSM can no longer say their accusations are unwarranted and that they are just acting with partisan “sour grapes”. They were targeted and it is a fact … “NOT IF”. But suddenly Obama seems to have amnesia and has become Sgt. Schultz as he “knows nothing” of any of the scandals.

The town is turning on President Obama — and this is very bad news for this White House.

Republicans have waited five years for the moment to put the screws to Obama — and they have one-third of all congressional committees on the case now. Establishment Democrats, never big fans of this president to begin with, are starting to speak out. And reporters are tripping over themselves to condemn lies, bullying and shadiness in the Obama administration.

Buy-in from all three D.C. stakeholders is an essential ingredient for a good old-fashioned Washington pile-on — so get ready for bad stories and public scolding to pile up.

Vernon Jordan, a close adviser to President Bill Clinton through his darkest days, told us: “It’s never all right if you’re the president. There is no smooth sailing. So now he has the turbulence, and this is the ultimate test of his leadership.” Jordan says Obama needs to do something dramatic on the IRS, and quick: “He needs to fire somebody. He needs action, not conversation.”

Obama’s aloof mien and holier-than-thou rhetoric have left him with little reservoir of good will, even among Democrats. And the press, after years of being accused of being soft on Obama while being berated by West Wing aides on matters big and small, now has every incentive to be as ruthless as can be.

With Democrats and the MSM turning on Obama it should make for a good reality TV … ‘When Libs attack One Another.’ Gone is defending Obama and his agenda at all cost as it might just cost Democrat House and Senate politicians their political career. The 2014 and 2016 elections are not that far off and self-preservation is the name of the game in DC. To make matters worse for Democrats, the front-runner Hillary Clinton does not have clean hands either.

UPDATE I: More from Instapundit on President Barack Obama knowing nothing and doing his best imitation of ‘Hogan’s Hero’s’ Sgt. Schultz … As it turns out, that is exactly what Richard Nixon said as well. So what is worse, a president with three scandals he is complicit with, or a president that has no control of his administration and is completely over his head? Both are damning to America.

President Obama Waited 3 Days after IRS Apology to Address IRS Scandal of Targeting Conservatives and Uses the “IF” Word … “IF in fact IRS Personnel Engaged in the Kind of Practices that Have Been Reported on …

With President Barack Obama, it all depends on what “IF” is … When it Comes to an Enemies List.

Talk about late to the game. Finally after three days President Barack Obama addresses the scandal of the IRS targeting Conservative groups like the Tea Party or non-profit groups with the word “patriot” or groups that would teach others of the US Constitution. Barack Obama tried to absolve himself from the scandal by saying he just learned about this scandal on Friday when the report came out. Really Mr. President, you just learned about it? Next thing you are going to tell us that the Benghazi attack was a result of the video tape. Obama went on to say with a look of a child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, ”If in fact IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practice that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting Conservative groups then that’s outrageous. And there is no place for it. And they have to be held fully accountable”. IF THIS IS TRUE? IF? Has Obama been listening to what the IRS has been saying or is he just not that bright? The IRS has already admitted that they intentionally targeted Conservative non-profits, and those organizations that would educate as to the US Constitution on and those that would dare criticize the Obama government. Mr. Presidnt, why do you think the IRS apologized … um, for their intentionally  targeting of Conservative groups. Also Mr. President, what the IRS did was not just outrageous, IT WAS ILLEGAL!!!

Hey America, this is the same IRS that is in charge of enforcing Barack Obama’s Obamacare. How’s that “Hopey-Changey” stuff working out for ya?

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET BIG GOVERNMENT TYRANY AND LIBERTY DIES

On Monday, President Obama called the singling out of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service “outrageous”, adding: “I have no patience with it. I will not tolerate it.”

Obama’s strong condemnation of the growing scandal came amid similar denunciations from Democratic elected officials.  Montana Sen. Max Baucus called it an “outrageous abuse of power and a breach of the public’s trust.” West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin described the IRS’ actions as “unacceptable and un-American.” You get the idea.

The question being asked in the political world today is whether the condemnations are too little, too late. As in, did the Obama Administration — and other Democrats in the House and Senate — miss their chance to claim some sort of high(ish) message ground by largely taking a pass on the story when it broke on Friday morning?

So why is Barack Obama so outraged? The IRS really didn’t do anything that his own reelect campaign did not do with the Tea Party, Conservative or those who believe in the US Constitution and put them all on an Obama enemies list. Wasn’t it this president who created a snitch website  in 2012 for moonbats to report anyone who dare make comments about Obama and criticize him called Attack Watch?

Better than Obama’s dribble of trying to BS the American public that he never knew of any of this comes the quote of the day from Hot Air. Attorney Dan Backer, whose client TheTeaParty said, “And that’s when we knew it was gonna be a problem.”… “Nobody wipes their own ass in the government without a lawyer clearing it,” Backer said. “The idea that this is not at least a few layers up is nonsense.”

EXIT QUESTION: For Obama being the supposed smartest President ever, why does he always seem to play dumb when confronted with a scandal?