Let them eat cake department

Obama on sacrifice:

And we'll save billions of dollars by rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while giving a middle-class tax cut to 95 percent of hardworking families. But we'll also have to do something more -- we will, each and every one of us, have to compromise on certain things we care about, but which we simply cannot afford right now. That's a sacrifice we're going to have to make.

Byron York: Desiree's fashion junket on taxpayers' dime

At first, it wasn't clear whether Rogers was hanging with the fashionistas as part of her official White House duties or not. Then New York magazine quoted a White House aide saying, "Desiree was in New York on a fact-finding mission. She's acting as a cultural liaison for the White House; she's researching fashion and music."

I called the White House to check if that quote was accurate. It was. An aide explained that first lady Michelle Obama "has taken a particular interest in showcasing the work of young up-and-coming designers who have chosen fashion as their path and who are artists in their own right and who are introduced at places like Fashion Week."

The Anchoress: What to do with our $13 - buy a pair of earrings?

As I recall, when there was a $600.00 stimulus check rolling down the pike a while back, Mrs. Obama rather sneered at it:

“You’re getting $600. What can you do with that? Not to be ungrateful or anything. But maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn’t pay down every bill every month..

Barack’s approach is that the short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good. And it may even feel good that first month when you get that check. And then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings.”

Sweetness & Light: The cost of Obama's weekend trips

Using these very conservative figures, Air Force One cost $214,768 and the cargo plane cost $32,140. For a grand total of $246,908 for Mr. Obama’s two round trips.

But of course that is just for Mr. Obama’s air transportation. And it doesn’t even cover all of that.

For, as is the custom, Mr. Obama took the helicopter, Marine One, back and forth to Andrews AFB. (And he is usually accompanying by two other helicopters on the short trip.)

Members of Congress enjoy their trips, too.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and her husband with 7 other Democrats have left Washington D.C after voting in that great spending bill and have taken off to Italy in a Military Chartered Jet at a cost of $10,000 per hour, with a total fly time of 20 hours. While in Italy the speaker has visited sites like museums and has gone to several receptions.

While all of this is going on President Obama is working hard traveling from city to city to tell the American people to buckle down and prepare for tough times as the economy goes further into decline. This comes at a time when Americans are struggling to pay their bills and are cutting back their own personal expenses.

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