Thread: Obama's India trip -- not as expensive as you may have heard

Nov 04, 2010

Obama's India trip -- not as expensive as you may have heard

11:56 AM

By MANPREET ROMANA, AFP/Getty Images

No, President Obama's trip is not going to cost $200 million a day.

That figure -- first thrown out by a single Indian media outlet and now viral on conservative talk radio -- is wildly off the mark.

The problem is that the costs for these trips are impossible to determine, for many of the president's expenses would be incurred whether he was visiting India or Atlanta or simply hanging around the White House. Obama's India trip starts an Asian swing that includes South Korea, Indonesia and Japan.

The administration isn't inclined to detail costs, most of which deal with security.

"The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality," said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor. "Due to security concerns, we are unable to outline details associated with security procedures and costs, but it's safe to say these numbers are wildly inflated."

To be sure, these trips do cost millions of dollars per day.

Whenever a president travels, he or she takes a mini-White House with them, from bulletproof limousines to gaggles of aides. This can come in awfully handy when trouble happens, such as the terrorist attacks on 9/11 when George W. Bush was in Florida. Ronald Reagan was traveling in Asia when the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Russia blew up in 1986.

Foreign trips are expensive but are a staple of presidential duties. India is a rising economy power. It is next to -- and has an intense rivalry with -- one of the world's most dangerous countries, Pakistan. It can be a counterweight to threats from China. Any president is going to deal with India.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim majority nation. South Korea is the site of a G-20 global economic summit. Japan is hosting the annual Asian economic summit, which Obama's predecessors also attended. There's no evidence that Obama's team is spending any more money than its predecessors, taking inflation into account.

Yes, these gigs will cost money. But $200 million a day? Not even close.

One other thing to keep in mind: The Secret Service is not going to let anything happen to a president overseas if they can help it. They're going to do -- and spend -- whatever it takes. That's just a fact of life.

One last thing: The media organizations accompanying Obama will pay their own expenses.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... ve-heard/1

I guess it depends on which article you read

All I have to say is watch out for terrorism. When the president and everyone he knows leaves the country all at one time.....WATCH OUT!

Originally Posted by GoodVibrations

All I have to say is watch out for terrorism. When the president and everyone he knows leaves the country all at one time.....WATCH OUT!

It seems to me the terrorist would be more likely to try to attack the president overseas where they have more power than here. It would make more sense for them to attack here when the president is here so they could try to get him too. It makes no sense to attack here when their biggest target isn't even here. IMO

"Who cares? It's all fiat Federal Reserve Notes backed by borrowed money that will never be repaid anyway."

Or so they say inside the Beltway. Some people (career bureaucrats and politicians who have never made a payroll) reckon borrowed money (debt) as an asset, which they never intend to repay.

If federal debt collapses the U.S. economy, such spendthrifts should be convicted as traitors for bringing down the U.S..

JohnDoe2 wrote, "It makes no sense to attack here when their biggest target isn't even here."

It makes eminent sense if he is not their target. Mr. Obama is the best ally in the White House that Is|am has ever had.

http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-137238-days ... -3683.html

http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-137238-days ... c-779.html

Killing the president of the U.S. would put any terrorist or terrorist group at the top the the totem pole faster than anything else they could possible do. They all know that, and so do we.

Government Waste! Guess he will be bearing visas!

Security Entourage Earning Epic Reputation Ahead of Obama India Visit

Published November 04, 2010

A foreign force this size probably hasn't been in India since the era of British colonization.

But with a security entourage the size of a modest army supposedly buffering President Obama on his visit Friday, the Indian government is welcoming its long-awaited guest for three days of talks aimed at strengthening ties and trade between the world's two largest democracies.

The logistical details of the trip are mind-boggling and if not for an historic midterm election surely would have dominated the headlines over the past week. With the president and his staff making a point to stay at the Mumbai hotel ravaged by terrorists in 2008, the security arrangements have become the stuff of legend before Air Force One even takes off.

The details on the trip, extensively reported in the Indian media but strongly disputed by U.S. officials, read like lyrics for a hawkish version of "The 12 Days of Christmas."

The president will be accompanied by 40 aircraft, 3,000 people, a fleet of cars and 34 warships, according to a string of blow-by-blow news updates. The Press Trust of India quoted an official in the state of Maharashtra pegging the cost at $200 million a day.

Obama's said to have booked the entire Taj Mahal Palace hotel and, according to The Wall Street Journal, Mumbai officials have ordered coconuts plucked from palm trees outside a memorial the president is scheduled to visit to ensure there are no bumps on the noggin. In Delhi, the president's second stop, monkeys have been the subject of a municipal crackdown.

The Obama administration has pushed back on some of the more sensational claims about the trip.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor shot down the $200 million-a-day figure -- to put the outrageous sum in context, that's 5 million times Rachael Ray's recommended $40 a day.

"The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality. Due to security concerns, we are unable to outline details associated with security procedures and costs, but it's safe to say these numbers are wildly inflated," Vietor said.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell also outright rejected the claim that 34 warships would patrol the Mumbai coast while Obama is in town.

"I think there has been a lot of creative writing that's been done on this trip over the last few days," he said. "We obviously have some support role for presidential travel ... but I will take the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd, this notion that somehow we are deploying 10 percent of the Navy, some 34 ships and an aircraft carrier in support of the president's trip to Asia -- that's just comical.

"Nothing close to that is being done, but the notion that president would require security as he travels to India and elsewhere should not come as a surprise to anyone," he said.

A military official also told Fox News the warship claim was inaccurate. The official knew of no such plans and said, besides, a carrier strike group typically has 10-12 ships at most.

Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, stressed at a briefing last week that those precautions that are being taken are all rooted in security concerns.

"We take our guidance from the Secret Service and our security personnel as to what precautions are necessary to ensure that the president has a safe visit," he said when asked about the booking of the entire Taj hotel. "That decision ... is not made by us. It's made by the professionals who know what the requirements are. So we follow their guidance."

The Taj hotel was the scene of the final standoff between Indian commandos and terrorists who rampaged across the country's largest city during the 2008 attacks. That attack was staged by sea.

But Rhodes sought to quiet any suggestion that the administration is not confident in India's own preparations for the president's visit.

"I would underscore we think that India is a strong and safe and resilient country that is, with effective counterterrorism," he said. "But again, with respect to our security requirements, we're just guided by the Service."

Indian security officials are planning extensive measures to ensure the security of the president's entourage. The Times of India reported that Delhi police will send out 2,000 officers and personnel to secure the president's travel routes.

Obama heads to Delhi, India's capital, after participating in a business summit, a town hall with university students and other events in Mumbai. In Delhi, he is expected to dine with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, formally meet with the prime minister and other officials and eventually deliver an address to the Indian parliament.

India is just the first stop on a multi-leg Asian tour through Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. The president is leaving just after his party suffered historic losses in Congress, in an election that saw the Republicans take control of the House and pick up at least six seats in the Senate.

In advance of his visit, the president released a statement Thursday marking the Indian holiday of Diwali.

"This holiday reminds us all that we should commit ourselves to helping those in need. For many, this is also a time to gather with family and to pray. To those celebrating Diwali in India, I look forward to visiting you over the next few days," Obama said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11 ... dia-visit/

Originally Posted by GoodVibrations

All I have to say is watch out for terrorism. When the president and everyone he knows leaves the country all at one time.....WATCH OUT!

Obama is back in the country and we weren't attacked while he was gone so I guess all of that fear was all for nothing.