Thread: Date Night : Broadway Show & Dinner in NYC

Originally Posted by Bahet

We pay for the President 24/7 no matter where he is or what he does. It's part of living in this country and always has been. We pay for him to go to NYC the same as we pay for them to go to Camp David or Texas or the East wing of the White House. Some places and things cost more than others and some cost less. We paid for Bush to spend the equivalent of 2 years on vacation. Why can't Obama get 1 date night every 6 months?

He's been on a few, but who's counting......

Perhaps his next 'date night' will be in Paris (and I don't mean the Paris in Texas) for dinner for an hour or 2, commuting from DC for the sole purpose of 'date night'....you okay with footing that bill?

Originally Posted by littlebuggy

I don't care where he goes or how he gets there with HIS OWN money!! I should not have to pay for him and his wife to go on a date. It's not the fact that they flew, it's the fact that MY tax dollars paid for HIS night out.

Let me ask you this...if the head of GM was to fly from his home to a place that is two hours from his house and take his wife out for a night with company money would that be ok with you? It's the same thing. Our country is so deep in debt, and while what they spent may be a drop in the bucket compared to what we do owe, he shouldn't be wasting even one penny of it on play time for himself. If someone is $10,000 in debt would it make sense for them to take out a loan for $1000 to go to disneyland?

The thing with this is he is required to have security and these are the things that go along with the job. He should not have to stay home. If he wants to go to the store down the block he needs an entourage that we all pay for. It come with the territory. It's been this way with every president and if we want to get picky, we can say that every other presidents trips, night outs, etc...have added to the debt.
To answer your question...I really wouldn't care about the president of GM because I had nothing vested in it and the company allowed it, the fool 10,000 in debt that takes out a loan for Disneyland is not my problem either. Let them deal with it.
Would you take a job that pays $400,000 a year for being being on call every second of the day? It comes out to like $45-46 an hour. I know plenty of people that make that much with an iota of the responsibility.
Travel expenses for a president have always been a part of the package and I don't see anything wrong with a night out, especially considering he has not done it in excess.
We're not going to agree on this and that's fine but anyone who's been busting his a$$ in service of others deserves a break.


ETA it's a 2 hour round trip. 1 hour each way.

Ok, since some people seem to be so all about defending him let me ask this question. Travel aside, because yes we pay for our president to travel everywhere he goes, always been that way. What I want to know is did the tax payers pay for his date? Because the white house is refusing to disclose how much this night cost us, the taxpayers. Which could lead me to another discussion about how transparent he "claimed" he would be. That aside, if this didn't end up costing way more than should be spending, why would they refuse to let us know how much this cost us?

Originally Posted by speedygirl

Would you take a job that pays $400,000 a year for being being on call every second of the day? It comes out to like $45-46 an hour. I know plenty of people that make that much with an iota of the responsibility.
Travel expenses for a president have always been a part of the package and I don't see anything wrong with a night out, especially considering he has not done it in excess.
We're not going to agree on this and that's fine but anyone who's been busting his a$$ in service of others deserves a break.


ETA it's a 2 hour round trip. 1 hour each way.

To answer the first question...yes. That's alot of money to people like me. Which leads me into the second part that is in bold. Have you seen the pay stub for most of our military men and women. Trust me, it doesn't come close to $400,000 a year. Yet, when they are in Iraq or Afgahnistan they are on call 24/7. I agree that people who bust thier ass in the service of others deserves a break, but I don't think it should be limited to the president. At least he's with his family. FOr most service member that's all they want.

Edited to add:
Even when they are not deployed service members can be called any time day or night for any reason. So, they are also on call 24/7. The difference is the pres is not going to get a call at 3am telling him that he is leaving in less than 2 hours, and won't see his family again for a year.

Originally Posted by littlebuggy

Ok, since some people seem to be so all about defending him let me ask this question. Travel aside, because yes we pay for our president to travel everywhere he goes, always been that way. What I want to know is did the tax payers pay for his date? Because the white house is refusing to disclose how much this night cost us, the taxpayers. Which could lead me to another discussion about how transparent he "claimed" he would be. That aside, if this didn't end up costing way more than should be spending, why would they refuse to let us know how much this cost us?

I've read on several sites including the NY Post that it was $24,000 per aircraft but I'm not sure how accurate it is or where they got their info from.

Originally Posted by littlebuggy

To answer the first question...yes. That's alot of money to people like me. Which leads me into the second part that is in bold. Have you seen the pay stub for most of our military men and women. Trust me, it doesn't come close to $400,000 a year. Yet, when they are in Iraq or Afgahnistan they are on call 24/7. I agree that people who bust thier ass in the service of others deserves a break, but I don't think it should be limited to the president. At least he's with his family. FOr most service member that's all they want.

Of course they do and it's a travesty that they make a pittance. Don't get me going on this with the billions spent, lives lost and the conditions our military has to endure on a war that I disagree with. I'll save that for another thread.

See, it's a "life styles of the rich and famous' date night......not a problem when you are the 'rich and famous'....but when one is representing a country that is deep in debt and telling people who are rich and famous, that they need to cut back....then yeah, it appears hypocritical......it sets a bad example.

Everyone needs a break.....he needs to lead by example.....and I don't expect his date night to be PB&J sandwiches in a pop-up tent on the great lawn to keep costs down.....just a bit more conservative and 'low key' when the country is hurting so badly.....

Originally Posted by littlebuggy

To answer the first question...yes. That's alot of money to people like me. Which leads me into the second part that is in bold. Have you seen the pay stub for most of our military men and women. Trust me, it doesn't come close to $400,000 a year. Yet, when they are in Iraq or Afgahnistan they are on call 24/7. I agree that people who bust thier ass in the service of others deserves a break, but I don't think it should be limited to the president. At least he's with his family. FOr most service member that's all they want.

Edited to add:
Even when they are not deployed service members can be called any time day or night for any reason. So, they are also on call 24/7. The difference is the pres is not going to get a call at 3am telling him that he is leaving in less than 2 hours, and won't see his family again for a year.

No disrespect to ANY service member retired or active but they knew this when they agreed/signed up for it. They knew it wouldn't make them rich.

So that would be 24,000 x 3 (because he just had to have staffers AND press go with him on his date) which equals $72,000 just for the use of the planes.

I saw one blog that listed the price of the box seat broadway tix at $96.50 each. Plus the cost of dinner, plus the pay for the staffers who had to go with. That just seems too much considering what people are going through. I understand he needs secret service wherever he travels, of course that is a given. I just don't see why he needed two extra planes of staffers and press. Like I said before, it may be a drop compared to what we already owe, but you don't take out more loans when you can't pay the ones you have. At least us average people don't.