the scariest waste of money yet
A day after New Yorkers were scared half to death by Barack Obama’s best re-enactment of 9/11, he assured America that his days of terrorizing lower Manhattan are over, saying “it won’t happen again”.
This whole event kind of reminds me of a teenager getting caught taking his father’s car out for a joy ride (well, minus the fear stricken crowds and $329,000 price tag), “sorry dad it won’t happen again, I promise”.
Putting aside the fact that this was perhaps the most ill advised photo op in the history of photo ops (even worse than the one that killed the entire royal family in King Ralph or maybe even this), this misadventure cost the American public over $300,000; those of us who are not pissed-off over having to go home for a change of underwear, should be outraged over this clearly frivolous use of tax dollars.
Does Obama not get it? When you make speeches saying we all have to tighten our belts, we all have to get our financial houses in order, you do not schedule $300,000 photo ops. This is just another example of him telling us to turn down our thermostats to save money and energy, while he himself keeps the Oval Office at a balmy 80 degrees. Or like the time he said it was imperative that congress have their nearly trillion dollar spending bill on his desk by the end of the day Friday (for fear the financial world would collapse otherwise), then took a three day vacation not getting around to signing it ’til Tuesday. Or like on Earth Day while proclaiming the importance of energy conservation, he personally burned 9,000 gallons of fuel traveling around the country.
Hey does anyone remember when congress was outraged over CEOs of private companies flying private jets to get to Washington? I wonder how many of those CEOs commission their planes to fly passengerless over America to take pictures, now that would really be a waste of money, and you know how much Washington hates wasting money!
You can see where this is going… the man that would bring hope to the country by claiming he is the anti-politician; the usher of a new age, in just a short 100 days has proven himself to be the ultra politician. A man that literally says one thing while doing another. “The rules apply to those in Washington” he proclaims, while in the act of breaking them. How is that no-lobbyists-in- the-White House-decree going? Or the whole five-days-of-public-comment-before-signing-a-bill promise? Getting a dog from a shelter???
If the White House thinks spending $329,000 on a photo of his plane is a good use of tax payer dollars, can we really trust them to take more control than ever in shepherding our economy? Now I know in the grand scheme of things $329,000 is a drop in the federal bucket, however, Obama himself was the one who said every bit adds up, and if he said it you know it has to be true.
Dude, a little credit would be nice.
I feel like you’re angry because your party is in shambles. First sarah palin (pathetic) is your leader and now Alren spector is a democrat.
Obama did not approve of this and found out when the rest of the country did and “the hours would have been flown regardless, and the expenses would have been accrued on a different mission.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/low.flying.plane/index.html
First of all, I can care less if the Republican Party is in “shambles”, the party can fold up and die if that is what has to happen before America wakes up and realizes we are on a path to economic ruin. Not to mention there is no way anyone considers Sarah Palin to be the leader of the party. Arlin Spector has not been a Republican for over a decade, and only now as a desperate act of self preservation has he changed the letter after his name in an effort to keep his cushy do-nothing job.
Secondly, Obama is the president. The buck stops with him. Is the fact that he “found out about this when the rest of the country did” supposed to be an excuse? This just shows that he runs a government with an organizational culture of wasteful spending. Do you think they would have approved this if they thought Obama would have been opposed to it???? It is further proof that his entire staff consists of a bunch of over grown teenagers. He himself has called for an end to wasteful spending in Washington, therefore I would assume his own staff would abide by that decree, since they in fact do represent him.
Bottom line – poll after poll on important economic issues show the American people are not satisfied with the direction the president is taking our economy. The fact that he still enjoys favorable approval ratings is a reflection of a significant amount of people willing to give him some time, and those who simply are unwilling to accept their buyer’s remorse. However, once his honeymoon is over those ratings will reflect his poor numbers on the issues.
Right now the Democratic Party is under the false impression the country has shifted significantly left, and they are positioning themselves to reflect that false assumption. They are setting themselves up for a huge failure – I hope Obama goes as far left as he can
@Smarter Than You
Do you really think you are responsible for uncovering the fact that flying a Jumbo Jet and two F-16s to take a picture was wasteful spending?
@JAM
wow, again dude? “This just shows that he runs a government with an organizational culture of wasteful spending. Do you think they would have approved this if they thought Obama would have been opposed to it???? It is further proof that his entire staff consists of a bunch of over grown teenagers. He himself has called for an end to wasteful spending in Washington, therefore I would assume his own staff would abide by that decree, since they in fact do represent him.” This is almost exactly what I told you yesterday. I mean, I know I’m Smarter Than You, but come on, a little credit.
Also, Mr. “Scientist”, while you’re correct in your quote from that article (”the hours would have been flown regardless, and the expenses would have been accrued on a different mission”), are we supposed to assume the best flight training for an F-16 pilot is to follow and take pictures of a slow flying 747? Or could we possibly have spent that time, money, and training doing something that might help our pilots become better pilots?
I’d also like to quote from that article:
“President Obama has ordered a review of the decision to fly a Boeing 747 frighteningly close to the lower Manhattan skyline, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.
The review will focus on ‘why that decision was made and to ensure that it never happens again,’ Gibbs said. Jim Messina, a deputy chief of staff, will lead the effort.”
Really, we need to order a review for that? From later in the very same article: “‘Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision,’ Caldera said.”
So…what exactly are we reviewing? The guy said he made the decision to do it. He made a large mistake and owned up to it. That happens in my company and my reaction is as follows: “Well Mr. Caldera, I appreciate your taking ownership of your mistake, unfortunately it was just too big to let slide and I’m going to have to let you go. I simply can’t justify keeping you around after something like this, especially with the way things are these days.” But, instead, apparently our president thinks the best way to approach that would be for me to convene a commity, take them away from their normal responsibilities, pay them to sit around a table for a week and discuss it a little bit more, maybe even pay a psychiatrist to come in as a sub-contractor to examine what was going through his head at the time he made that decision to see if there’s something we’re missing from the complete and utter admission of responsibility.
Idiots…
@Smarter Than You
So are taking credit for the idea of conservatism in general?
Nope, but I feel the fact that you’re using points I spoke about yesterday on your blog today means I should be cited in some form or another. I mean, unless you’d prefer to just cut to the chase and have me just write the thing for you…but where’s the fun in that?
@Smarter Than You
I already had an outline for today’s post before you made your comments, they just happened to be similar points, and since the natural conclusion of flying billion dollar jets on a $300,000 joy ride is government waste, I assume a lot of people were thinking the same thing.
well, agree to disagree