Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
You Are Going to Pay $100 Million for Obama's Trip to Africa
Vacation will require a Navy aircraft carrier, fighter jets, military cargo planes, three truck-loads of bulletproof glass, limos and security.
The Obamas' trip later this month to Africa could cost taxpayers in the vicinity of $100 million because of massive presidential vacation resources -- hundreds of Secret Service agents, 14 bulletproof limos, and much, much more -- but there is more important outrage to be had: Despite all the money we're spending for the first family to visit South Africa, Tanzania, and Senegal, we're not even going to get another awesome picture of a president on safari!
The details of President Obama's trip arrive today from The Washington Post's Carol D. Leonnig and David Nakamura, who got their hands on a confidential document outlining the massive resources to outfit and protect the president and his family during their eight-day trip that begins June 28. The vacation, according to the Post, will require at least one Navy aircraft carrier, a rotating shift of fighter jets, plus military cargo planes, three truck-loads of bulleproof glass (just for the hotel-room windows), and all those limos and security guys. The Secret Service detail could balloon the cost beyond the $60-$100 million that other presidential Africa trips have totaled.
If the reaction at Sasha and Malia's expensive spring break trip earlier this year is any indication, there's no doubt people are going to be upset about those numbers. But President Obama's travels to Africa are just like those of the two presidents before him: Bill Clinton went in 1998, and George W. Bush went with his family in 2003 and again in 2008. Clinton's trip cost the government around $42.8 million, according to the Government Accountability Office, and the Post doesn't mention how much Bush's trips cost.