Obama's pay for White House renovations themselves instead of the Taxpayers

[Blu-ray]

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.

But does this mean they’re going to spend more than $100,000 or less? Though Michelle Obama has talked up Pottery Barn, Smith’s client list includes cost-is-no-object types like Rupert Murdoch, Steven Spielberg, and former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain—for whom he procured that $87,783 rug. “There’s no question that he’ll get it done in the way that it’s supposed to be done,” says Smith client and Democratic donor Katherine Chez. “But how, I don’t know.” The White House declined to disclose the budget, saying that all expenses would remain private as a result of the Obamas’ decision to absorb the cost.

http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/55679/


Alright Obamas! Way to go! Now that shows some class right there!

[cupowar]

Thank god he's saving the taxpayer a couple hundred thousand dollars. Now if he would just do something about the trillions that he's wasted...

[calliope]

http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/55679/


Alright Obamas! Way to go! Now that shows some class right there!

That's splendid. They indeed are bringing much needed class back to the white house. And generosity, in spirit and in action. Michelle is a cool lady, and her husband really respects her. It's great having a first couple such as the Obamas.

[MaximumPain]

Thank god he's saving the taxpayer a couple hundred thousand dollars. Now if he would just do something about the trillions that he's wasted...

Where was your bitching when Bush CO was shitting out our money into Iraq? Obama can do no right with you can he your mind was made up a long time ago.

[Mezurashi]

Where was your bitching when Bush CO was shitting out our money into Iraq? Obama can do no right with you can he your mind was made up a long time ago.

the white upper middle class are all shitting bricks, looking at the catastrophe their cowardice and sheep mindedness has helped create.

so all they can do is blame the guy trying to Repair the Problems.

they're collectively like the household that regularly flushes garbage down their toilet then complain when they have to have their septic tank flushed out.

ignore the naysayers - after all, these are the same people who, more or less, tacitly supported BushCo with their Lack of Activism back when Being Vocal was equated with being a Terrorist or a Liberal.

these are the people who would try and sue the State for them shitting in their own pants ... and they deserve as much respect ...

[cupowar]

so all they can do is blame the guy trying to Repair the Problems

Well, if the repairman is making the problem worse...

[lycanox]

Offcource the repair man wouldn't be necessary of Bush did a better job.

[Mezurashi]

Well, if the repairman is making the problem worse...

if you have no idea of What the Repair man is doing then you are still an ignorant upper middle who sits in their armchair and spouts nonsense about how things should be done.

offer some alternatives maybe ... oh, I forgot. that's Not YOUR job, is it? YOUR job is to hoard resources and hack away at those who are trying to repair the situation You helped create in the first place.

don't criticize the Repairman if you Don't Know How To Repair It Yourself - but that's just an opinion. I'm sure you will sit comfortably and bitch like all the armchair quaterbacks of US history -- you and Archie Bunker ought to form your own club ...

[Raptor Witness]

I have to admit, it seems sort of silly to save a 100 g's, and then spend several trillion. The numbers don't jive. I have no problem with the White House looking fine at our expense, but I do have a problem with the bailout of the so called "systemic" enterprises, that are little more than monopolies to begin with, and which should be sold off, if they're worth anything, and let the forest regrow.

We will pay a heavy price over a much longer period of time FOR THIS STUPID BAILOUT OF THE SELECT, in exchange for a few dollars on the tab for furnishings. SHAME !

[cupowar]

if you have no idea of What the Repair man is doing then you are still an ignorant upper middle who sits in their armchair and spouts nonsense about how things should be done.

offer some alternatives maybe ... oh, I forgot. that's Not YOUR job, is it? YOUR job is to hoard resources and hack away at those who are trying to repair the situation You helped create in the first place.

don't criticize the Repairman if you Don't Know How To Repair It Yourself - but that's just an opinion. I'm sure you will sit comfortably and bitch like all the armchair quaterbacks of US history -- you and Archie Bunker ought to form your own club ...

Yawn. More worthless crap.

By the way, why is everything about race with you? For someone from the left side, you sure are racist.

[pico]

I agree cupowar... everything he posts is how "the white man" is the problem.... I don't have white sheets on the bed, let alone in my closet. I am about as white as Obama. Just because I disagree with him makes me into a upper middle class white person who is scared that a black man was elected. I could give a crap about this man's skin tone. We are all children of God. It is his policies that have me questioning my government. Things don't always have to be about race. The idea that it does with you makes you into a racist, in my opinion, Mezurashi.

[MaximumPain]

The fact remains that this whole fucked up situation is at least 80% the fault of the Bush Republicans and the assholes who voted for them (Im betting thats you two Pico and Cupowar ). How much money have we poured into Iraq and into Companies like Haliburton who dont even base in America so they dont have to pay taxes yet get no bid contracts. Every time we get a Republican they try to break the government then bitch about it not working.

[cupowar]

The fact remains that this whole fucked up situation is at least 80% the fault of the Bush Republicans and the assholes who voted for them (Im betting thats you two Pico and Cupowar ). How much money have we poured into Iraq and into Companies like Haliburton who dont even base in America so they dont have to pay taxes yet get no bid contracts. Every time we get a Republican they try to break the government then bitch about it not working.

It's a good things libs have a scapegoat. Bush is responsible for Brobama's fuckups. Nice.

[MaximumPain]

To Pico and Cupowar

Your statements here prove your bias but not that you are racists. Thats something that we can not know unless you come out and say it and of course I would expect you to be defensive against the charge after all we should have moved beyond that point long ago. You bias however is glaring you cant even give them credit for a good deed. I think you are hopeless and that is really sad. I dont know what I could say to heal you. I can see that these arguments can go no where as your minds are like concrete never to be changed.

I didnt like Bush when he was elected I voted for Gore of course but I didnt attack him at every turn until a few years in after he had show repeated incompetence and corruption getting us into Iraq and taking us from a surplus to the biggest deficit in the history of the country. You know who my president was those 8 years? ... George W Bush ... because I am a loyal American and would fight and die to preserve the constitution. Im not so sure you guys would Im starting to think you are traitors who hate America God I hope Im wrong.

Obama was elected by us the people of the United States of America and like it or not the people voted not just for the man but the policy's they hoped to see him enact. He was left with the biggest mess Ive ever heard of any President in our history and I believe he is doing what he and his advisers think is best for the people of the United States.

[MaximumPain]

It's a good things libs have a scapegoat. Bush is responsible for Brobama's fuckups. Nice.

You sir are a clueless Idiot then. Have you not been paying any attention at all? And your bastardization of his name with a common term for black people makes you the fucking racist you've been accused of. Nice job

[cupowar]

You sir are a clueless Idiot then. Have you not been paying any attention at all? And your bastardization of his name with a common term for black people makes you the fucking racist you've been accused of. Nice job

Okay, fine you win everything is Bush's fault. He made people buy more than they could afford. He was behind 9/11 and Katrina. Iraq and Afghanistan should never have happened. Everything else that's wrong in the world is all Bush's fault.


All that doesn't change the fact that Obama is fucking the country over with his shitty decisions.

Brobama has nothing to do with race, but if you think it does, doesn't that mean that YOU are the racist one??? I didn't think black people copyrighted the word "bro". Oh well.

[pico]

I can state my mind is pretty much made up aboout Obama... but so is many here who support the man. I will call him president, and be glad we have 4 years to cast another vote. I can lash out against his policies, but it is because he has done more in his time than any president before at implementing bad crap... or proposing it. Under his administration, spending is fixing to get out of hand, much more than Bush and the Iraq War ever cost. I just can't think of any way this will ever be paid back, except by either defaulting on the commitments or thru huge tax increases on everyone from the piss poor to the filthy rich.

[MaximumPain]

Okay, fine you win everything is Bush's fault. He made people buy more than they could afford. He was behind 9/11 and Katrina. Iraq and Afghanistan should never have happened. Everything else that's wrong in the world is all Bush's fault.

You dont remember his statements after 9/11 that America needs to go shopping? Im going to stay away from whos behind 9/11 except to say that at minimum he fucked that up by ignoring repeated reports from multiple sources including some of the intel services of our allies over in europe. Iraq should not have happened that money could have been the TARP money and then some. never said every thing in the world was Bush's fault but if it makes you feel any better he didnt help. Dude who authorized the first TARP money? Was it Obama? Ill bet you wont answer.

All that doesn't change the fact that Obama is fucking the country over with his shitty decisions.

If you ever took economics you would know that the government is supposed to spend money during a depression. At least this money is going into the country and not into rebuilding us fucking up Iraq and paying off Haliburton WHO MOVED OFF SHORE TO AVOID PAYING TAX"S damn patriotic of them I do say.... fuckers.

Brobama has nothing to do with race, but if you think it does, doesn't that mean that YOU are the racist one??? I didn't think black people copyrighted the word "bro". Oh well.

You really are clueless aren't you?

[JenaS62]

I can't stand GW and I am having very serious doubts about Obama. But because he is black, suddenly I'm a racist. That makes a lot of sense

/sarcasm.

[MaximumPain]

You associating him with Nazis doesn't help peoples perception of your attitude Jenna.
Do you really think hes a Nazi?
Do you even think Bush was?

[pico]

Not all of the money is going into the country. It is going to many private, or at least they were private, companies. The taxpayers are paying for all in the US to become stakeholders in bad companies. It sucks all around, and to top that off, this newest bunch of crap requesting that the GM CEO resign just shows how much leverage the White House is having on private companies... I hope I did not make a racist remark calling it the White House. Perhaps I should just refer to it as the executive branch of government?

[JenaS62]

I compare Obama to Hitler because of the blind adoration of this man. The singing of songs for him by children, the chanting and frenzy of the crowd, the "messiah" status and most recently for the bill for mandatory volunteerism which is just a tad too close to the Hitler youth group for my tastes. So yes, I worry about Obama being "Hitlerish." In fact I heard a black minister saying the same thing. Is he racist?

GW was the worst president we've ever had. He got us into a war over oil and I believe that he and his puppet masters allowed 911 to happen, among other things. The list is long. I'm happy he's gone. Never before were more of our rights eroded than under Bush. BUT - I fear that we are getting into deeper shit now. Sorry.

[MaximumPain]

Not all of the money is going into the country. It is going to many private, or at least they were private, companies.

I must have missed it what companies have been nationalized?

The taxpayers are paying for all in the US to become stakeholders in bad companies.

That does suck but do you have any idea what the loss of AIG would have done to the rest of the economy? They Insure over half of all American corporations to allow them to fold would have instantly crushed the economy. I dont like the idea of companies becoming to big to fail and believe they should be broken up in some way to help protect us in the future.

It sucks all around, and to top that off, this newest bunch of crap requesting that the GM CEO resign just shows how much leverage the White House is having on private companies...

They can find another CEO and it will probably be better for GM all around. It was a request I would like to see a few more of these fools who fucked up be asked to leave it would be a good start. If the car goes off the road ask who was driving.

I hope I did not make a racist remark calling it the White House. Perhaps I should just refer to it as the executive branch of government?

Thats a good one.
I dont recall seeing anything racist coming out of you and hating Obama does not make one racist as long as you have a real reason.

[pico]

I am not stating he was a great sleazEO who deserved to keep his job, although GM is really making good stuff for a piss poor economy. It is bad mojo when the US President can ask for and have his/her request complied with regarding corporate positions. Perhaps I read this all wrong, and all will be fine in the future, but I get worried when what appears to be a power grab by Obama and his appointees is taking place. If this is what is happening, I would also add to Jenas remark about him being a bit Hitlerish. Even if he is like Hitler, which would be bad for people like myself, so far it has been all legal, or at least has been interpretted as such. Hitler was the same, and came to power by the will of the people. I think those that usurp power thru force are doomed, but those that change thru legal means perhaps stand a chance.

[pico]

I should also state I do not hate him... just his policies. He makes me a worried individual, but I am not the type that hates unless something wrongs me or my loved ones at the personnal level. I disagree with strongly might be more along the lines of my feelings towards him.