Our Royal President

@laglen (19759)
United States
September 28, 2012 8:27am CST
We spent $1.4 billion on the first family in 2001. This is per Robert Keith Gray author of Presidential Perks gone Royal. Wow. How does this make you feel as an American taxpayer? His calculation he says are based only the info he could find. There could be more. I understand that there are expenses involved but sheesh, think how that could affect our debt?
1 person likes this
7 responses
• United States
28 Sep 12
Got a link? I would interested to see a list of the expenses. Some things they can't help like the security details that are assigned to the whole family. Or the cost of fuel for air force one. We pay those for all the presidents. But if we are paying for shopping sprees. Then we have a problem.
1 person likes this
@laglen (19759)
• United States
28 Sep 12
Here ya go http://robertkeithgray.com/ From what I can see, this could be a very interesting book.
• United States
28 Sep 12
Lil, Robert Gray is a republican who has worked for every republican president in the last 30 years. I am sure he won't point out what his former employers cost the American people (and if he does it will not include all of the same facts he is using against Obama).
• United States
28 Sep 12
That would make him a propaganda agent. Wonder if he is going to write a book about all the wasteful spending and illegal crap he saw over the years done by both sides.
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
29 Sep 12
That explains why he's working so hard for a second term. He doesn't want to give up those perks any sooner than he has to. I saw one comment I thought was interesting especially after I was told Obama can relate better with the middle class than Romney. "Gray asks: 'With our current president’s billion- dollar lifestyle, can we reasonably expect a president to identify with the real-world problems of his citizens, when tens of millions of them are currently unemployed?'” Smart Business Hawaii Posted by Malia Zimmerman.
1 person likes this
@stealthy (8181)
• United States
28 Sep 12
Obama thinks of himself as a celebrity and therefore piles up expenses like one. He takes a lot of unnecessary foreign trips that are thinly disguised vacations for him and his family. Many of his real vacations are to Hawaii which makes all of the tax payer parts of the expenses more compared to the ones he takes in the rest of the U.S. Then there are the two $1 million each buses that we payed for that were really for campaign purposes but were passed off as for official business. These are just things off the top of my head without even reading Presidential Perks and so I don't know if any of them are included in that.
@laglen (19759)
• United States
28 Sep 12
I'm sure they are. The things you mentioned is essentially what the book is talking about.
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
29 Sep 12
If you look at those who eventually become the leaders of true socialist and communist regimes, they always live well while providing the most meager standard of living for the average citizen. Privilege is the class system of a socialist regime. Those who want power and privilege don't have to worry about what they propose to be an egalitarian society. Compare Governor Romney with the current governor of MA, Deval Patrick. Romney took no salary. He didn't need it, he was wealthy already and not looking to line his pockets. Patrick immediately set about spending money on refurnishing and redecorating his office, spending $10,000 on drapes and rented himself a big limo to drive around in. He originally claimed he was replacing furnishings that were Romney's personal stuff and that he took with him. But that was untrue, Romney left the desk and the drapes and everything else. Patrick hired an aide for his wife (wives are not elected officials) and paid this aide at a salary of $72,000 per year. Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Patrick's election was closely followed and mirrored by the Obama campaign in 2008. They are BFFs. Claiming to be for the poor pays very well. For myself, I think I would rather hire the guy who was wealthy enough that there was no incentive for him to garner perks for himself and his family. No need to rack up expensive vacations on the taxpayer dime, he can do as he likes without having to dip into public coffers. The president is our employee, and just as Clint Eastwood told us, we have the right to fire him when he's not doing the job. It's not a position of royalty, it's one of service. Service to the country, not to himself. I think Romney has a proven record of public service from which he did not profit. I can't imagine how anyone can overlook facts the way they do and overlook the way that the Obama's treat their positions as one of self-aggrandizement.
1 person likes this
@laglen (19759)
• United States
1 Oct 12
Very well said Rollo and you have become quite the spokesman for Romney. I am learning more from you than the media (obviously). I find it funny that they have no problem spending our money on his family. But the idea of somebody that doesn't need our money, well we can't have that...
• United States
28 Sep 12
When you look at the facts about the author point to his motive. Robert Gray has worked for just about every republican president including Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. I am sure that in this book he doesn't mention that many of these abuses started under his former employer. But, the book has yet to come out so we will have to see what facts, IF ANY, he has to back up his ASSUMPTION!!!!!
1 person likes this
@laglen (19759)
• United States
29 Sep 12
The reason I posted this discussion was because I watched an interview with him. Yes he has worked for Republican Presidents. And he says that is addressed in his book, There is some leeway for the President but by far more excess here.
@stary1 (6612)
• United States
28 Sep 12
laglen I think all Presidents cost large amounts of money. They are also expensive after they leave office since they have security for life paid for by taxpayers. I would be interested in comparisons of different Presidents to see what would be considered out of line. Thinking of security alone probably amounts to millions..it is a huge amount, but many factors need to be analyzed I would think.
1 person likes this
@laglen (19759)
• United States
29 Sep 12
The author worked for various other Republican Presidents. He is comparing accordingly.
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
28 Sep 12
That would be impossible. And who was the first family in 2001?
@laglen (19759)
• United States
29 Sep 12
Crap that was my mistake, it is supposed to read 2011. Thank you for catching it yoyo!
@stary1 (6612)
• United States
28 Sep 12
yoyo1198 January 21, 2001 was G.W. Bush.... I wonder why 2001 is the year picked...perhaps that is suppose to read 2010???..then of course it would be Obama.