Thread: Wasting more taxpayer money

Eric Holder took 62 tax-payer-funded trips in 2011 at an average cost of $25,000 each... all approved by ... the P0TU5.

Mark Levin Slams Eric Holder: ‘We Have A Lawless, Rogue AG Of The US’
Posted on July 16, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhBUo...layer_embedded

You can hear how much Mark Levin loathes Eric Holder because of his past, he lies through his teeth, abuses the law he is sworn to uphold while he enforces those he likes and ignores those he opposes. As the Great One points out we are dealing with not only a lawless attorney general but in effect the entire regime is lawless as they act by example set by the imperial emperor.

Where are our Representatives and Senators who swore to uphold our laws and keep rogue government agencies in check? Rep Issa what are doing or waiting for with this clown Holder? Since when can the DOJ go after a citizen who faced his peers and was acquitted to try to “get him”? You never know folks next time you might be your or me!

http://savingtherepublic.com/blog/20...-ag-of-the-us/

Obama’s To Vacation At $7.6m Private Home In Martha’s Vineyard, Over 75 Rooms Booked For Staff
July 29, 2013 1:31 pm

If there's one thing the Obama's like to do, it's spend mine and your tax money on vacations. Not just any vacation mind you, we're talking about vacations reserved only for the super elite, that come at a super price tag.

Starting on August 10th, the Obama family will arrive on Martha's Vineyard and stay for 8 days. While presidents do have to pay for their own accommodations and personal meals, that is mostly a formality because the cost of making sure the president is secure and flying Air Force One and limos and secret service vehicles to Martha's Vineyard and of course all the weaponry used to protect POTUS in the event of something sinister, is in the multitude of millions of dollars. http://www.isthatbaloney.com/republi...nal-toy-video/ So maybe the President reimburses the US Treasury a few thousand dollars for the vacation accommodations, don't forget, his salary comes from your pocket too.

Read more below from The Washington Examiner on the latest extravagant Obama vacation: http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-...rticle/2533598

The Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, the exclusive playground for presidents and their families, is about to get its annual summer infusion of cash and attention as President Obama and his family prepare to arrive August 10 for an eight-day vacation.

Local reports indicate that the first family will likely be staying at a $7.6 million resort home on southern edge of the island in the town of Chilmark where homes feature water access to Chilmark Pond, tennis courts and swimming pools.

Staying at the home of Chicago corporate finance manager David Schulte is a break from past Obama vacations because the $21 million home they've rented, Blue Heron Farm, isn't available. Schulte's summer home sits on nine and a half acres, has ocean views and a basketball court.

It was renovated 10 years ago by Rick Sundberg/Olson Kundig Architects, which is bragging about the Obama visit on the company's website.

While the president typically keeps to himself and carries with him only a handful of staffers to Martha's Vineyard, security will be tight. As in the past, the Wesley Hotel in Oak Bluffs will house security and communications officials. The owner told the Vineyard Gazette that the Secret Service has booked 70 rooms and another five have been reserved for the Transportation Security Agency. Rates at the hotel run from $225-$345.

http://www.isthatbaloney.com/obamas-...ked-for-staff/

Vacationer Obama’s favorite Vineyard “vulture”
By Michelle Malkin • July 31, 2013 10:18 AM

It’s good to be the king … of class warfare hypocrisy. While he lectures his political opponents about their neglect of middle-class America, President Obama is headed to Martha’s Vineyard. Again. Because nothing spells populist like a $7.6 million, 9.5-acre estate owned by one of Chicago’s wealthiest corporate financiers.

The sprawling summer manse of David Schulte is actually a downgrade from the Obama family’s previous summer digs. The $21 million, 28.5-acre Blue Heron Farm that had hosted Obama and his massive entourage since 2009 isn’t available for rental anymore because a British mogul snapped it up.

But don’t be bumming. The Obamas won’t be slumming. Schulte’s Chilmark, Mass., complex boasts pond and ocean views, an infinity pool and a basketball court (natch!). Cell towers were installed around Schulte’s home to boost phone service. The Vineyard Gazette reports that the Secret Service has 70 rooms booked nearby.

Homeowner Schulte deserves special attention. If this deep-pocketed donor and private-equity whiz were a Republican, the Occupy hordes and left-wing super-PACs would have made him a household name by now. The SEIU already would have picketed his private residence. Cher, Bette Midler and Chris Rock would be tweeting furiously about this privileged white robber baron in all caps.

Schulte, you see, earned his money in much the same way the demonized Mitt Romney did: through corporate restructuring and rescuing debt-burdened companies. He and his former partner, Sam Zell, have happily embraced the nickname “grave dancers” since the early 1990s. By 1993, their billion-dollar “vulture fund” based in Chicago had purchased all or part of Jacor Communications, the embattled media conglomerate; Sealy Corporation, the mattress empire; and the distressed Schwinn Bicycle Company.

The duo also scooped up Santa Fe Energy Resources (an oil and gas company) through a partnership and refinanced Revco D.S., the drugstore chain. Schulte called his financial playground “the land of broken dreams,” according to the Los Angeles Times, which described the partners as “bottom-fishing.”

Team Obama had plenty of brutal depictions for GOP private-equity mavens during the 2012 campaign: “Looter.” “Corporate raider.” “Greedy Gekko.” “Heartless profiteer.” Liberal media outlets likened Romney’s cohorts to mobsters, strip miners and cannibals. “Bain was just like the Donner Party,” comedian Stephen Colbert snarked. “They ate the weak.”

Super-PAC Priorities USA Action, run by former Obama spokesman Bill Burton, teamed with shameless campaign mouth turned CNN talker Stephanie Cutter to smear Romney’s private-equity record. They falsely accused Romney and Bain Capital of allowing laid-off steelworker Joe Soptic’s wife to die of cancer — even though she had insurance coverage after he lost his job, Romney was no longer with the company when Soptic’s plant closed, and the wife died seven years after Romney’s departure.

Like Schulte, Romney’s Bain record includes many successful turnarounds that saved workers’ jobs, pensions and health benefits — including Staples and Sports Authority. When Democrats do it, it’s creative capitalism. But when Republicans do it, it’s a criminal enterprise.

The double standards are rich. But Obama’s coffers are richer. Democratic demagoguery means never having to say you’re sorry for throwing stones at glass houses, while vacationing in the compounds that “vulture capitalism” built.

http://michellemalkin.com/2013/07/31...eyard-vulture/

comments

"If this deep-pocketed donor and private-equity whiz were a Republican, the Occupy hordes and left-wing super-PACs would have made him a household name by now."

we are being ruled by a lot of maniacs.

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"Rule".... That's the operative word here. Not "lead" or "serve".

Remember this?:

"We'll be ready to rule from day one!"

If that is not the credo of the authoritarian statist I can't think of a better one.

..

A modicum of forgiveness could be evoked if this country is truly being run by maniacs. It is not. It is run by cunning, calculating power kings and media queens who know exactly what they are doing. This gang has, over time, succeeded in duncifying the populace via the social media and thought control in the public schools and universities. We're out-numbered in spades!

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"The Vineyard Gazette reports that the Secret Service has 70 rooms booked nearby...."

I dated an ATF agent back in the early '90s. She told me what the SS has to do to provide security for Presidents, even under the most mundane of circumstances. Long range snipers, recon teams.... It is unbelieveable.

The owner told the Vineyard Gazette that the Secret Service has booked 70 rooms and another five have been reserved for the Transportation Security Agency. Rates at the hotel run from $225-$345.

We will never know the actual costs involved. With a diva President it must be stratospheric.

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"WH: Economic Data Revised to Include 'Methodological Changes Designed to Better Reflect the Evolving Nature of the U.S. Economy'

'Recovery from Great Recession faster than reported.'"

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/...my_742343.html

Translation: "We found a mo' betta way to cook the numbers." Waiting for a reaction from the Vichy Press Corps..... just kidding.

VIDEO: Rand Paul Obliterates Obama - "Where are You, Mr. President?"

http://www.tpnn.com/rand-paul-oblite...-mr-president/

Guess who is costing taxpayers millions in travel expenses to speak to pro-amnesty groups and "Al Sharpton" groups among others???

Docs show Holder’s taxpayer funded luxury personal travel expenses

August 6, 2013 by Cheryl Carpenter Klimek

After nearly a year of waiting, Judicial Watch has finally obtained Attorney General Eric Holder’s travel expenses from the Department of Justice. Holder’s excursions cost taxpayers over $4 million dollars, including nearly $700,000 in personal travel expenses.

Judicial Watch obtained the records through the Freedom of Information Act, which cover 42 months between March 2009 and August 2012. The documents show Holder took 213 out-of-Washington trips and 31 personal trips during that time.

Documents show two trips to Martha’s Vineyard with a flight-only price tag of $95,184.50, and eight trips to Farmingdale, New York, at a flight cost of $118,553.71. On September 9, 2010, Holder took a one-day personal jaunt to Atlantic City that cost the taxpayers $7,408 in flight expenses alone, according to Judicial Watch.

Here are some of the most notable expenses Judicial Watch listed:

In April, 2011, Holder charged taxpayers $15,452.50 for a speaking engagement at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network in New York City.

In June, 2012, Holder charged $38,108.18 in “business and personal” expenses to address LULAC, a liberal group that strongly supports amnesty for illegal aliens, in Orlando and New Orleans.

In July, 2012, Holder charged an additional $38,108.18, this time fully billed to the taxpayers, to speak before La Raza, another controversial pro-amnesty group, in Las Vegas.

Also in July, 2012, Holder flew on a Department of Defense plane, at unknown cost, to speak before the NAACP convention in Houston.

The report notes Holder’s first taxpayer-funded trip was to Mexico for a “US/Mexico Arms Trafficking Strategy Meeting” in April 2009, addressing gun-running between the US and Mexico, an issue in which the attorney general later claimed he had no involvement. Cost to the government for that trip was listed as “unavailable.”

Gulfstream jetHolder is considered a “required use” official, and must take government aircraft for all travel while in office due to “security and communications needs,” according to a February 2013 U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

Judicial Watch said that holder usually flies on a Gulfstream V, “the same private luxury jet owned by former Apple chairman Steve Jobs and billionaire businessman Mark Cuban.”

“I hope these documents help Attorney General Holder understand the burden his unnecessary personal travel places on American taxpayers,” Judicial Watch President, Tom Fitton said. “The notion that federal officials such as Holder have access to a fleet of luxury jets for discounted personal travel for “security” reasons should strike most Americans as a scam that needs to be reformed.”

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/08/...expenses-81040

comments

I don't like Holder and I disagree with many (but not all) of the policies of the groups mentioned in this story; however, it is certainly within the job description of the Attorney General (whoever he is) to appear at meetings of these group the same as it would be for him to appear before the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and the National Association of Manufacturers. Holder has done a lot of "very bad things"........in all candor, this travel is not among them.

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Although I agree with the Attorney General requiring special secure travel arrangements since he is a top government official, I see no reason why he should be addressing any chamber of commerce or any manufacturing groups. There are certainly enough people in the administration who are more directly involved with these types of industries. If he wants to address the NAACP or the National Action Network that should be paid for by the organizations themselves since they are special interest groups with political leanings.

Governor Jan Brewer : Last night just before going on his summer vacation, Obama DENIED federal assistance for the Yarnell fire that destroyed more than 120 homes and claimed the lives of 19 firefighters.

LIKE if you are outraged by Obama's misguided denial to help Arizona citizens after this tragedy.

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I am deeply troubled by the Obama Administration’s decision to deny much-needed recovery assistance in the wake of Arizona’s deadliest wildfire. This designation would have provided critical aid to citizens most impacted by the fire.

The State of Arizona continues to mourn this tragedy, which took the lives of nineteen of our bravest first responders. While no amount of federal assistance could ever ease the pain of such an extraordinary loss, it would have provided significant financial relief to Yarnell and Peeples Valley. Local residents are under enough emotional stress as they work to pick up the pieces and put their communities back together. Wondering how or if they will recover their losses should be the last of their worries.

In the days after the fire, I appreciated the call I received from President Obama, during which he pledged to support our state during its time of great need. I was even more encouraged when Vice President Biden reiterated that commitment at the memorial service for the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots. With today’s denial of the state’s request, Arizonans are left questioning what help they were willing to give.

I was hopeful the federal government would recognize the exceptionally devastating circumstances surrounding this tragedy, and support Arizona’s request.

I will review our options regarding an appeal of this misguided decision. I will continue to do everything in my power to assist in that effort.

Rest assured, that is a pledge that will not be broken.


Here's my full statement regarding the President's denial:

Obama’s 8-Day Vacation. Here’s A Reality Check For Them (Video)
GOP Freaks Out Over Obama’s 8-Day Vacation. Here’s A Reality Check For Them Posted by Progressive Populist on August 11, 2013



Every time President Obama and his family take a vacation, the hypocrites on the right whine and complain about it. They typically gripe about how much it costs taxpayers, or how terrible it looks in light of all the people struggling economically in this country.

Here are some of the complaints this time, as President Obama and his family enjoy an 8-day vacation at Martha’s Vinyard.

Utah Republican Rep. Chris Stewart: “Most of the people in my district could never afford to visit Martha’s Vineyard, and those who could would feel uncomfortable vacationing in a place that has a reputation for being for the elite.”

Maryland Republican Party chairman Diana Waterman: “When there are so many people out there looking for jobs and Americans are struggling to make ends meet, this sends the wrong message to people who are struggling to survive.”

Here’s a couple of reality checks for those critics: At the same point in his presidency, George W. Bush had taken 399 days of vacation, much of it spent at his Crawford, Texas ranch. President Obama, meanwhile, has taken just 87 days of vacation.



Does ANYONE remember Republicans bashing George W. Bush over his excessive vacation days? Didn’t think so. Did the likes of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck take President Obama’s predecessor to task for having taken over a full years worth of vacation time, or roughly 20% of the total time he had spent in office? Nope. They did not.

Not to mention that currently Congress is on a 5-week vacation. In the video below, the question was asked: What are they taking a vacation from? This Congress has passed the least number of bills ever, so it’s a good question to ask. Oh, I suppose we won’t see the 41st attempt at repealing ObamaCare anytime during the next few weeks. But we’re sure that with plenty of rest, the House GOP members will get right to work on that when they get back from sipping martinis.

Please watch this great video as Al Sharpton on Politics Nation, along with guest Nancy Giles, candidly expose “Vacation Gate” for the fraud that it really is, especially compared to George W. Bush’s time off.

http://progressivepopulist.org/2013/...or-them-video/