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Monday, December 03, 2012

54 Christmas Trees For The Obama White House



The country is on the brink, people are suffering, and Barack and Michelle Obama decided to deck their halls with not one, not two, but 54 Christmas trees! How out of touch can one be?  Had a Republican president decorated the White House with the same amount of trees, can you just imagine the hollering that the liberal media would be doing in response to such extravagance and excess?  What's wrong with one nice, large  presidential tree?  Okay, so maybe two. But some in this country won't even be able to afford a small scrawny one.  Since Obama loves to share, why didn't he think of redistributing those 53 other trees to needy families or organizations?

Michelle was apparently ecstatic about that indoor forest of trees:

"We have 54 trees in the White House," an excited Michelle Obama proudly told visitors the other day. "54! That’s a lot of trees."
You think, Michelle?  You're damn tooting that's a lot of trees. And why aren't the environmentalists' panties in a twist over all those conifers that were cut down simply to grace the Obamas temporary residence for a month or so?

According to Investor's Business Daily, the Obama's almost doubled their Christmas tree stash this year, and it seems Bo, their dog is featured prominently in their Christmas tree ornaments.

In addition to 54 Christmas trees, Michelle Obama has overseen the placement of thousands of ornaments in public rooms. Many of the ornaments celebrate the Obama family dog, Bo, who seems to have become the First Family's favorite symbol of Christmas. Other decorations, including on the more prominent trees, were made by children in schools on U.S. military bases.

There's several hundred yards of garlands and wreaths all over the hallways and rooms. And, of course, a traditional gingerbread house that has working chandeliers and weighs about 300 pounds.

And the Obama family won't even be there to enjoy all that Christmas cheer because they'll be having a blast in Hawaii from December 17 through January 6th on the taxpayer's dime- or much of that vacation, will be courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. If you recall, last year's Hawaiian vacation cost over $4 million, and this year they are spending a little longer there.

I can't wait to find out how much this year's holiday will cost us.

So much for "tightening our belts", Michelle. You enjoy your 54 Christmas trees and your trip to Hawaii, while the rest of us suffer.

4 comments:

h.c. said...

"Had a Republican president decorated the White House with the same amount of trees, can you just imagine the hollering that the liberal media would be doing in response to such extravagance and excess?" -- Well, GW and Laura Bush had 49, at least one year. See: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123976&page=1#.UMWgY3L9WSE
Since you specifically mention their vacaions, shall I also link you to facts about the Bushes many vacations? Why not: http://politic365.com/2012/05/08/obamas-vacations-of-any-president-bush-racked-up-the-most/
"Calls to several Presidential libraries reveal that President Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, was on vacation more — 1,020 days — than any U.S. President since Herbert Hoover and possibly more than any other President in history.

Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was in office 12 years from 1933 to 1945, was on vacation less days than President Bush at 958 days. Calls to several Presidential Libraries reveal that no President can come close to Bush’s 1,020 days on vacation in an 8 year period." [....] "Some claim the cost of Bush’s frequent trips to Crawford, Texas cost taxpayers upwards of $20 million, but the numbers are hard to confirm."
As for the rest of this silliness, how about all of the rumors being gleefully spread (without any fact-checking, as usual) that the Obamas are butchering Christmas in various ways? I won't bother linking to each one -- just go to Snopes.com and search "Obama Christmas" yourself to bring up a list. Anyway, people happily perpetuate "proof" that Obama hates Christmas and Christians and America and your grandma, yet when there's something like this they're wrong for that too? You will all be much happier people if you let go of all the misplaced and unnecessary anger and hate that Fox "News" is very happily encouraging you to cling to, and find someplace in all this where you can actually be happy for once, instead of complaining about everything no matter what. I promise. I've found that place.

Incognito said...

While I appreciate your attempts to edify me re. Republican excesses (and yes, 49 trees is excessive) there is no comparison. First off, we are in dire economic straits right now, maybe you aren't aware of that, and if a president and his wife are asking the American people to tighten our belts, then I expect the POTUS to be an example, and do the same.

And, did I mention anything about them hating Christmas? Well? No, I did not, so not sure why you even brought that up. Very annoying when people do that.

h.c. said...

As this story points out: http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/does-obama-deserve-54-white-house-christmas-trees-and-a-trip-to-hawaii-you-betcha/2012/12/05

"The trees, with all their decorations, as well as all the decorations adorning the White House and surrounding grounds, that is all donated by various groups and individuals, through various Friends of the White House organizations.

You may not know this, but the White House is part of the National Park Service and the first floor of the building is a designated museum. So yes, some tax dollars go into the decoratin’ of the old White House, as it has every year for at least 90 years. It’s a budget set by Congress and the park service and the First Lady get as much mileage out of that budget as possible.

What goes on is, the First Lady, in this case Michelle Obama, gets together with her kids and decides on a theme and then they solicit decorations based on that theme from certain groups of people. This year the theme is “Joy For All.” For the official tree that goes up in the Blue Room of the White House, the families of service people deployed to Afghanistan created ornaments.

Then the rest of the building is decorated with stuff left over from previous years and decorations that are donated by thousands of Americans who want to add something to the White House Christmas. The White House is the “People’s House,” and the people, that would be us, want their White House to be the best decked out house in the nation, so we make it happen."

Or how about this from the Bush years, albeit not specifically about Christmas: http://www.departures.com/articles/white-house-confidential , which mentions "the National Park Service (the agency responsible for the operation of the mansion)", as well as: "The government pays for the National Park Service people who work at the White House, but allows just $50,000 per administration for decorating expenses. That wouldn't even pay for the curtains in the Blue Room. The presidents have always had to raise private money to do these things, and sometimes it's a case of some rich friend who just can't wait to redecorate a room at the White House.""

And: http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/55679/
Again, not specifically about Christmas, and from a few years ago, but at least about the Obamas this time: "At a time when people are having trouble holding on to their houses, Barack and Michelle Obama have sensibly decided not to use taxpayers’ money to renovate theirs. New presidents are allotted $100,000 to overhaul the White House residence and the Oval Office, and the Obamas hired Hollywood decorator Michael S. Smith (known, per his site, for mixing “Old World classicism with very contemporary settings”). But the First Couple isn’t spending that money. They “are not using public funds or accepting donations of goods for redecorating their private quarters,” says Camille Johnston, director of communications for the First Lady. Nor is the couple, who reported $4.2 million in household income in 2007 tax returns, using money from the White House Historical Association, a privately funded foundation that paid for a $74,000 set of china shortly before Laura Bush left town. "

You can Google more on your own. I'm tired of doing your work for you. The mention of the supposedly anti-Christmas stuff was because it's the sort of thing people like you, who get all self-righteously riled up over silly stuff like this because Fox News told you to, love to post about, and I would bet money you have, or at least have "liked" it on a friend's Facebook post. Learn to research and think for yourself. Happy Holidays!

Incognito said...

I almost didn't publish because your comment is more fitting for your own blog post.

Tired of doing my work for me? Then don't my dear. And actually I never watch Fox News, sorry. And I don't "like" those kinds of things on Facebook, because I leave my politics out of FB. So you owe me money, HC.

As for the articles you linked to, so what. Still not relevant.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa to you.