Obamas forget recession and jet to NYC for date night, dinner and a show

[Fraulein Hilda]

First couple's date: dinner and a Broadway show - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK – President Barack Obama made good on a campaign promise to his most important supporter Saturday night — his wife, Michelle.

The president and first lady jetted for a date in New York late Saturday afternoon, aides and media in tow.

"I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished," the president said in a statement an aide read to the press.

Following dinner at Blue Hill, a West Village restaurant touted by New York magazine as a "seminal Greenmarket haven" that features food grown by chef and owner Dan Barber on his upstate farm, the president and first lady were headed to the Belasco Theater to see "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."

The play by August Wilson is about black America in the early 1900s, with residents of a boardinghouse recalling their migration from the sharecropping farms of the South to the industrialized North.

As the motorcade drove through the West Village, crowds of people gathered on the sidewalks of the blockaded streets to wave as he passed. The street in front of the Blue Hill was closed to passersby, with gates and security personnel keeping people away.

The White House declined to say how much the trip was costing taxpayers, and even before the smaller jet left Washington, the there-and-back trip drew criticism from the Republican National Committee. The RNC issued a news release that chastised Obama for saying he understands American's troubles, but then hopping up to New York for "a night on the town."

Noting that General Motors is expected to file for Chapter 11 protection on Monday, the news release said: "Putting on a show: Obamas wing into the city for an evening out while another iconic American company prepares for bankruptcy."

 

[Terry]

What a fuck face! You know this will come back to bite his ass in the long run with the moderate Black Folk. LOL

 

[ReillyT]

What a fuck face! You know this will come back to bite his ass in the long run with the moderate Black Folk. LOL

Who gives a shit? The President doesn't fly commercial.

 

[KittenKoder]

First couple's date: dinner and a Broadway show - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK – President Barack Obama made good on a campaign promise to his most important supporter Saturday night — his wife, Michelle.

The president and first lady jetted for a date in New York late Saturday afternoon, aides and media in tow.

"I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished," the president said in a statement an aide read to the press.

Following dinner at Blue Hill, a West Village restaurant touted by New York magazine as a "seminal Greenmarket haven" that features food grown by chef and owner Dan Barber on his upstate farm, the president and first lady were headed to the Belasco Theater to see "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."

The play by August Wilson is about black America in the early 1900s, with residents of a boardinghouse recalling their migration from the sharecropping farms of the South to the industrialized North.

As the motorcade drove through the West Village, crowds of people gathered on the sidewalks of the blockaded streets to wave as he passed. The street in front of the Blue Hill was closed to passersby, with gates and security personnel keeping people away.

The White House declined to say how much the trip was costing taxpayers, and even before the smaller jet left Washington, the there-and-back trip drew criticism from the Republican National Committee. The RNC issued a news release that chastised Obama for saying he understands American's troubles, but then hopping up to New York for "a night on the town."

Noting that General Motors is expected to file for Chapter 11 protection on Monday, the news release said: "Putting on a show: Obamas wing into the city for an evening out while another iconic American company prepares for bankruptcy."

Wait ... so there's only a recession when the president decides to go somewhere?

 

[hjmick]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

 

[KittenKoder]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

Would you rather he drive with the motorcade and tie up traffic for miles?

 

[Moon]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

Yeah, probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but image and perception count for something.

 

[Yurt]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

other presidents who presided in the era that obama has stated that we are virtually in or would have fully been in had his spendulus plan not passed....did they act as obama? in that, hopping around the country to enjoy a show he promised his wife, despite that he is telling others you can't just go to vegas anymore....

obama's behavior is one of the reasons i think democrats are the biggest hypocrites crawling the planet. they proclaim they are not like republicans, they care for the middle class guy, the lower class guy....yet, as soon as they get power, what do they do........act and live like the upper class guy

 

[hjmick]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

Would you rather he drive with the motorcade and tie up traffic for miles?

I'm not talking about the flight, hell, that may be the best part of the story considering he didn't take the 747. I'm referring to the whole thing in general. Like I said, I don't really care, but it looks bad. He makes a statement a couple of days ago saying the country is out of money, GM is filing for Chapter 11, Chrysler is in the dumps, unemployment is near an all time high, banks are in trouble, people are losing their homes, and he and the Mrs are hopping a Lear Jet for a night out in New York city. If it were me, I'd wait a little while, he's going to be President at least another 3 1/2 years. Broadway's not going anywhere. Stay home, watch a movie in your private theater.

 

[KittenKoder]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

other presidents who presided in the era that obama has stated that we are virtually in or would have fully been in had his spendulus plan not passed....did they act as obama? in that, hopping around the country to enjoy a show he promised his wife, despite that he is telling others you can't just go to vegas anymore....

obama's behavior is one of the reasons i think democrats are the biggest hypocrites crawling the planet. they proclaim they are not like republicans, they care for the middle class guy, the lower class guy....yet, as soon as they get power, what do they do........act and live like the upper class guy

Seriously? I wonder if any of the Republicans jogged everywhere during a "recession" ... of course, no one with half a brain would think this is such a thing ...

 

[WillowTree]

Hey! leave him alone. He deserves his rewards.. he successfully ripped off two automobile companies.. paid one set of bondholders 29 cents on the dollar and the latest 5 cents on the dollar.. Then he gifted them to the UAW.. what the hell is the matter with you folks.. picking on babybama?

 

[hjmick]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

Yeah, probably not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but image and perception count for something.

This is what I'm saying, appearances matter.

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

Overall, I don't have a real problem with this. I mean, it's kind of one of the perks of being President. On the other hand, it sure isn't going to win him any support and it just fucking looks bad.

other presidents who presided in the era that obama has stated that we are virtually in or would have fully been in had his spendulus plan not passed....did they act as obama? in that, hopping around the country to enjoy a show he promised his wife, despite that he is telling others you can't just go to vegas anymore....

obama's behavior is one of the reasons i think democrats are the biggest hypocrites crawling the planet. they proclaim they are not like republicans, they care for the middle class guy, the lower class guy....yet, as soon as they get power, what do they do........act and live like the upper class guy

Seriously? I wonder if any of the Republicans jogged everywhere during a "recession" ... of course, no one with half a brain would think this is such a thing ...

None I can remember who also wagged their fingers at companies buyng private jets and having conferences in Vegas while "folks were hurting." no.

 

[driveby]

What about the "sacrifice" he preaches ? Or is that just for everyone else ?

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

What about the "sacrifice" he preaches ? Or is that just for everyone else ?

He...and the government...are the only ones not expected to sacrifice.

 

[KittenKoder]

Next thing you know, he'll actually buy a gun and everyone will rant that he's for guns to!

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

Where is the "transparency" in refusing to say how much this cost, when asked?

 

[KittenKoder]

Where is the "transparency" in refusing to say how much this cost, when asked?

Wait ... what? Can't you do the math? Here's a hint: Look up the price of a private jet flying from wherever to wherever.

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

Next thing you know, he'll actually buy a gun and everyone will rant that he's for guns to!

Let me fix that for you.

The next thing you know, the President with a dozen guys standing around him with guns will tell us we don't need a gun.

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

Where is the "transparency" in refusing to say how much this cost, when asked?

Wait ... what? Can't you do the math? Here's a hint: Look up the price of a private jet flying from wherever to wherever.

No, they were asked, and refused to say.

And, it's more like the price of protecting a POTUS for a daytrip to a major metropolitan US city.