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Who do you think costs more to support every year: the Queen
of England or Barack Obama? If you guessed the Queen you are wrong by
around $1,942,000,000. The citizens of Great Britain pony up
approximately $58 million annually to support the Queen, a mere pittance
compared to the $2 billion Americans spend supporting Barack Obama and his
extravagant lifestyle.
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Presidential perks and budgets have been increasing
steadily over the years, but no president has spent more on himself and his
office than Barack Obama, and he has done this at a time when 23 million
Americans are unemployed and America is carrying a $16 trillion debt.
Apparently President Obama thinks leadership means living large while
Americans suffer.
A new book by
political insider, Robert Keith Gray, titled Presidential Perks Gone
Royal makes for informative but disturbing reading. Gray
served as appointments secretary to Dwight D. Eisenhower and as a member of
Ike’s cabinet. He has also served Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and George
H.W. Bush in various capacities. Consequently, he has seen the growth
of presidential perks up close and personal and is able to bring an insider’s
perspective to his analysis of them. I am indebted to Gray’s book for the
facts presented in this column.
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The cost of presidential
perks reached an all-time high during the eight years of the George W. Bush
administration, but not to be outdone President Obama topped Bush’s spending
record in just three years. Compare Barack Obama with some of his presidential
predecessors. John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover took no salary while
serving as president. William Howard Taft paid for the first presidential
automobile out of his own pocket. When Harry Truman left office, he and
Bess drove home to Missouri in the family car. Contrast how these
presidents—men who respected tax payers by minimizing presidential
spending—with Barack Obama whose frequent vacations have cost the
American taxpayer millions. For example, his much ballyhooed “date night”
to New York with Michelle cost taxpayers $2 million. And it’s not like
the president cannot afford to help out a little—his net worth exceeds $10
million.
Barack
Obama has increased the size and cost of the White House staff astronomically,
and he has done this in less than four years. For example, without even
conferring with Congress, President Obama hired 43 “czars,” some with salaries
higher than those paid to the members of Congress who had no say in their being
hired. Add to the high salaries of these 43 czars the cost of their
operating budgets, limousines, and well-paid staffs and you are beginning to
spend some money.
If the cost of 43 czars is not enough to get your
attention, consider the cost of the 469 senior staff positions Obama added to
the White House payroll, 77 of whom are paid more than $172,000 per year—not
bad during a time of record unemployment. In fact, as president, Barack
Obama has been a one-man employment agency. Unfortunately, the only jobs
he has created are in his office. While in office, President Obama has
helped himself—literally—but he has done very little for the American tax
payers who are funding his extravagance.
Here are some questions for the reader to
contemplate: How can a man worth more than $10 million who pays the
staffer who walks the family dog $102,000 annually claim to be the candidate
who understands the problems of the poor and unemployed? Should a man
who travels on Air Force One with a crew of 26, including five chefs, be
critical of Mitt Romney for being wealthy? Why would President Obama even
need a Homeland Security czar when America already has a cabinet-level
secretary for homeland security with 165,000 employees and a $35 million dollar
budget? Why does President Obama need 43 czars when President Clinton had
only eight?
These questions and Barack Obama’s royal lifestyle—a
lifestyle enjoyed while Americans suffer—should be contemplated by voters
before they enter the booth on November
