This just pisses me off , Instead of running the damn country & doing his fuckin job , He is only costing everyone more money by campaigning for his fellow crooks
President Obama's visit to Seattle this week may be a boon for Sen. Patty Murray and Democrats, but it could prove costly for city
taxpayers.
By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times political reporter
Related
President Obama's visit to Seattle this week may be a boon for Sen. Patty Murray and Democrats, but it could prove costly for city taxpayers.
Mayor Mike McGinn recently estimated Obama's stop could cost the city $100,000 to $150,000 in extra police security for the president and his motorcade.
"It's expensive," McGinn said on the Seattle Channel's "Ask the Mayor" show last week. But McGinn said such costs are to be expected for a presidential visit in a big city.
"We're talking about the leader of the free world here, and we're talking about people that have had real threats against them. And I think that we want to make sure when the president comes to Seattle, he's safe. I think that's our responsibility here," McGinn said.
A McGinn spokesman later said the mayor's estimate may have been too high. But neither the mayor's office nor the Seattle Police Department was able to offer an alternative figure Tuesday. McGinn's communications director, Mark Matassa, added that "it is the city's policy not to disclose security costs related to a president's visit."
In any case, the cost would be a tiny fraction of the Police Department's $243 million budget this year.
Obama is making his second visit to Seattle this campaign season to benefit Murray and other Democrats. On Aug. 17, primary-election day, Obama headlined fundraisers for Murray and Democrats and met with small-business owners at a cafe in Pioneer Square.
For his upcoming trip, he's scheduled to fly to Seattle Wednesday night. He'll host a "backyard chat" Thursday morning with a local family about economic issues facing women. Then he'll headline a get-out-the-vote rally with Murray at the University of Washington.
Murray campaign spokeswoman Julie Edwards said the campaign will pay costs associated with the political rally, as required by federal law. She had no estimate on those costs.
UW spokesman Bob Roseth said Murray's campaign will be billed about $45,000 by the university for rental of Edmundson Pavilion and related expenses.
Roseth said the UW will not absorb any of the costs.
Because Obama's backyard chat is considered an official presidential event, the Murray campaign is not required to pay costs associated with it.
There is a price to federal taxpayers for any presidential visit, including the costs of operating Air Force One and of the Secret Service agents who accompany the president.
Under federal rules, the government must be reimbursed for the costs associated with purely political events. That means political campaigns get billed for some of the flight costs of the president and his staff (except for Secret Service agents), at a rate equal to the cost of a commercial flight. (That doesn't come close to covering the actual cost of operating Air Force One, which was estimated at up to $58,000 an hour in 1998.)
In a case like Obama's Seattle trip, which includes both official and campaign events, a political campaign is typically billed for half the cost of the president's travel and lodging, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
Campaign visits by presidents are a time-honored tradition for both Republicans and Democrats, but the cost of such trips frequently spurs grumbling from local officials and partisan critics.
When President George W. Bush visited Hunts Point in 2003 for a Republican fundraiser, that Eastside suburb got stuck with a $23,634 security tab.
Some cities have tried to bill national political committees for their costs associated with such events.
For example, Portland sent the Bush-Cheney campaign a bill for $116,575 in security costs related to a 2003 Bush visit for a campaign fundraiser. The request was rejected.
Earlier this month, the small New Jersey borough of Creskill asked the Democratic National Committee to compensate it for more than $8,000 in police and other overtime costs stemming from an Obama fundraiser, a New Jersey newspaper reported.
Local officials in Madison, Wis., called in hundreds of additional police last month when Obama headlined an outdoor rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The city of Seattle faces an estimated $67 million budget shortfall next year, and McGinn has recommended cuts including layoffs of 200 employees and holding off hiring of new police officers, as well as increases in downtown parking rates.
Still, McGinn gave no indication Seattle will try to recoup its Obama-related costs from Democrats. He said Obama has been good for the city.
"The fact of the matter is, we are very fortunate with the support the federal government has provided to our city," McGinn said during the Seattle Channel interview, citing federal stimulus funds that have come to Seattle.
"Part of his job is traveling around the country looking out for us, and part of our job is looking out for him, and we're going to do that."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013204933_obamacost20m.html
President Obama's visit to Seattle this week may be a boon for Sen. Patty Murray and Democrats, but it could prove costly for city
taxpayers.
By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times political reporter
Related
President Obama's visit to Seattle this week may be a boon for Sen. Patty Murray and Democrats, but it could prove costly for city taxpayers.
Mayor Mike McGinn recently estimated Obama's stop could cost the city $100,000 to $150,000 in extra police security for the president and his motorcade.
"It's expensive," McGinn said on the Seattle Channel's "Ask the Mayor" show last week. But McGinn said such costs are to be expected for a presidential visit in a big city.
"We're talking about the leader of the free world here, and we're talking about people that have had real threats against them. And I think that we want to make sure when the president comes to Seattle, he's safe. I think that's our responsibility here," McGinn said.
A McGinn spokesman later said the mayor's estimate may have been too high. But neither the mayor's office nor the Seattle Police Department was able to offer an alternative figure Tuesday. McGinn's communications director, Mark Matassa, added that "it is the city's policy not to disclose security costs related to a president's visit."
In any case, the cost would be a tiny fraction of the Police Department's $243 million budget this year.
Obama is making his second visit to Seattle this campaign season to benefit Murray and other Democrats. On Aug. 17, primary-election day, Obama headlined fundraisers for Murray and Democrats and met with small-business owners at a cafe in Pioneer Square.
For his upcoming trip, he's scheduled to fly to Seattle Wednesday night. He'll host a "backyard chat" Thursday morning with a local family about economic issues facing women. Then he'll headline a get-out-the-vote rally with Murray at the University of Washington.
Murray campaign spokeswoman Julie Edwards said the campaign will pay costs associated with the political rally, as required by federal law. She had no estimate on those costs.
UW spokesman Bob Roseth said Murray's campaign will be billed about $45,000 by the university for rental of Edmundson Pavilion and related expenses.
Roseth said the UW will not absorb any of the costs.
Because Obama's backyard chat is considered an official presidential event, the Murray campaign is not required to pay costs associated with it.
There is a price to federal taxpayers for any presidential visit, including the costs of operating Air Force One and of the Secret Service agents who accompany the president.
Under federal rules, the government must be reimbursed for the costs associated with purely political events. That means political campaigns get billed for some of the flight costs of the president and his staff (except for Secret Service agents), at a rate equal to the cost of a commercial flight. (That doesn't come close to covering the actual cost of operating Air Force One, which was estimated at up to $58,000 an hour in 1998.)
In a case like Obama's Seattle trip, which includes both official and campaign events, a political campaign is typically billed for half the cost of the president's travel and lodging, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service.
Campaign visits by presidents are a time-honored tradition for both Republicans and Democrats, but the cost of such trips frequently spurs grumbling from local officials and partisan critics.
When President George W. Bush visited Hunts Point in 2003 for a Republican fundraiser, that Eastside suburb got stuck with a $23,634 security tab.
Some cities have tried to bill national political committees for their costs associated with such events.
For example, Portland sent the Bush-Cheney campaign a bill for $116,575 in security costs related to a 2003 Bush visit for a campaign fundraiser. The request was rejected.
Earlier this month, the small New Jersey borough of Creskill asked the Democratic National Committee to compensate it for more than $8,000 in police and other overtime costs stemming from an Obama fundraiser, a New Jersey newspaper reported.
Local officials in Madison, Wis., called in hundreds of additional police last month when Obama headlined an outdoor rally at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The city of Seattle faces an estimated $67 million budget shortfall next year, and McGinn has recommended cuts including layoffs of 200 employees and holding off hiring of new police officers, as well as increases in downtown parking rates.
Still, McGinn gave no indication Seattle will try to recoup its Obama-related costs from Democrats. He said Obama has been good for the city.
"The fact of the matter is, we are very fortunate with the support the federal government has provided to our city," McGinn said during the Seattle Channel interview, citing federal stimulus funds that have come to Seattle.
"Part of his job is traveling around the country looking out for us, and part of our job is looking out for him, and we're going to do that."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013204933_obamacost20m.html