Dave Blount
Moonbattery
6/28/2011
Like the EPA, the Bitter Half is assiduously doing her part to usher in oligarchical collectivism by crushing our quasi-capitalist economy under government debt. You thought she was doing nothing over in Africa besides pigging out on French fries and fat cakes? Wrong:
First Lady Michelle Obama’s trip to South Africa and Botswana last week cost taxpayers well over half a million dollars, possibly in the range of $700,000 or $800,000, according to an analysis by White House Dossier.
Many of the trip’s expenses cannot be obtained with specificity, including the cost of local transportation for the first lady, Secret Service protection, the care and feeding of staffers, and pre-trip advance work done by administration officials in South Africa. …
Based on the plane’s tail number and a description of it in a press pool report, it’s clear Mrs. Obama flew over and back on a C-32, a specially configured military version of the Boeing 757 that also ferries the vice president on occasion and is sometimes known as “Air Force Two.”
According to publicly available Defense Department figures, DOD charges other federal agencies $12,723 an hour to cover expenses for the use of a C-32. Based on the distance traveled and the flight speed of the plane, this adds up to about $430,000 for use of the aircraft alone. …
In addition, a military cargo plane typically accompanies a first lady on overseas trips to bring cars and other gear. It is not clear if a cargo plane also went along on this trip, but if it did — as is likely — it could easily have added another $200,000 to the cost, based on Defense Department rates for cargo planes.
Mrs. Obama’s office did not respond to a request for comment…
The article continues at Moonbattery.com
