Memory is a curse

[D.F. Manno]

Not only that, apparently it's a real drawback to a Washington media
career.

In 2010, Cheeto-stained wingnut bloggers and talk-radio gasbags seized
on a Indian news agency report that a planned Obama trip to India would
cost $200 million a day. The report was erroneous, but that didn't stop
the Beltway media from trumpeting it as fact.

Well, if at first you do exceed, lie, lie again.

Today's claim is Obama's planned trip to Africa will cost $100 million.
(At least they're not saying "per day" this time.) And once again the
Washington Post and other DC media types joined the bloggers and the
gasbags in pushing the story.

Do these clowns really think that the Navy ships that reportedly will be
deployed as part of the trip will sit in drydock and the crews
furloughed if the ships don't go to Africa? Secret Services agents are
going to get paid whether the president is in Katmandu or Kalamazoo. A
lot of this "cost" is money that's going to be spent wherever the
president is.

It irritates me to no end that I remember these things and take the
whole 30 seconds it takes to Google it to verify it, while the guys
making six figures in the White House press room can't remember anything
earlier than the last news cycle, or think that "online" is where you
wait at the caviar counter.

--
D.F. Manno | dfm...@mail.com
GOP delenda est!

[John Mc.]

There ARE added costs. Air Force One for example:

<http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20120522/NEWS/205220313/Air-Force-One-airfare-179-750-per-hour>

or

<http://tinyurl.com/n5gazss>

"The next time airfare seems too expensive, consider the cost of Air
Force One.

The plane that is used to carry the president, which is typically a
Boeing 747, costs the Air Force $179,750 per hour to operate, according
to a new Congressional Research Service report. Military planes are used
for security and because of special equipment on board.

Costs for each trip are even higher when factoring in the passenger and
cargo aircraft that often accompany the president's plane, although
those figures weren't specified in the eight-page report......"

And while you're correct about SS and Navy being paid no matter what,
there are the attendant travel costs. Plus, I'd assume the naval
personnel are on high alert with more planes in the air/ready on deck
than usual. I do agree that the $100 million price tag for the trip is
absurd. Several million probably would be closer.


John Mc.
(Me, I'd just as soon Max Headroom were President.)