First Lady takes glitzy Spanish vacation in current economic climate?
(PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The U.S. economy, with nearly 10% unemployment, has millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet – but you might not know it by watching the First Lady.
Michelle Obama, her youngest daughter, Sasha, and several of the First Lady's "closest friends" are on a glitzy vacation in Spain. They're staying on the southern Mediterranean coast with friends at a luxury hotel.
The resort in Marbella on the Costa del Sol is a playground for the rich and famous... including members of the Saudi Royal family, Spain's jet-setting crowd and Hollywood actors.
The First Lady and her pals are expected to take up 60 to 70 rooms, or more than a third of the whole resort, where prices start at about $400 a night and reportedly go up to $2,500 a night.
A piece in The New York Daily News compares quote "Material girl Michelle Obama [to] a modern-day Marie Antoinette” staying in the lap of luxury and not exactly cutting back in troubled times.
The taxpayers are paying for transportation and housing of an estimated 70 Secret Service agents who will accompany Mrs. Obama, not to mention the cost of Air Force Two.
The Daily News suggests that while the Obamas like to portray themselves as common folk, it doesn't really jibe with what we're seeing. The piece suggests a vacation on the coast of California where money would have pumped into the local economy might have been a more politically astute idea.
Michelle Obama's lavish trip comes at a time when 8 in 10 Americans describe economic conditions as "poor” and the "economy" is overwhelmingly cited as the top problem facing the U.S. today.
Here’s my question to you: What message does it send when the First Lady takes a glitzy vacation to Spain given the current economic climate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Is Pres. Obama keeping his word on transparency?
(PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
President Obama promised us the "most transparent" administration in history, but there are growing signs that it's just business as usual in Washington.
Politico.com reports that four times in the last week, the president has quietly attended private and exclusive Democratic Party fund-raisers – all closed to the press.
These events are for the fat cats – big donors, sometimes paying as much as $30,000 to attend. They're held at fancy hotels or at the homes of wealthy supporters.
The White House claims the president had nothing "formal" to say at these small fund-raisers so there was no need to have reporters on hand. They say the rule is if the president makes a speech or formal remarks, the event is open to the press.
But the president is clearly talking to donors at these events. One Democratic source tells Politico that at such a fund-raiser, the president will typically give a brief address to the group, then he might spend about an hour speaking one-on-one, or in small groups, with supporters.
Critics say this is an example of the president backtracking on his promise for openness. And journalists have also tried to get access to these events, with no luck.
You may recall it was at a private fund-raiser in San Francisco that then candidate-Obama was overheard telling donors that working-class people hurt by the economy "get bitter" and "cling to guns or religion." After that firestorm, Obama's campaign said it would allow more press into similar events.
But at least four times in the last week it doesn't seem to be happening.
Here’s my question to you: Pres. Obama promised us the most transparent presidency in history. Is he keeping his word?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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