There is a wave of anger in the U.S. the high cost Barack Obama's trip to India this weekend. The feeling comes from reports that the president and his entourage of about 3,000 officials, businessmen and security personnel spend about $ 200 million a day in visiting India for four days starting Saturday.
Topping the list of critics is Rep.-elect of Minnesota, Michele Bachmann, who has called the cost of the next presidential trip "over-the-top." In an interview to a television channel on Wednesday after his victory in a disputed re-election bid to the U.S. Congress, said, "We have never seen such an entourage is with the president before. And I think This is an example of massive over spending we've seen, not only in the last two years, actually over the last four years. "
There has been no independent confirmation of the expenditure figures, but the White House was quick to respond, saying that the figures have no basis in reality. "Due to security concerns, we can not explain the details regarding security procedures and costs, but it is safe to say that these numbers are greatly exaggerated," said White House spokeswoman, Amy Brundage said in a statement.
Still, it's hard to believe that the provisions made by the four-day visit will cost. Take the tunnel from the surface to test pumps will be installed by U.S. military engineers on the approach to Mani Bhavan Gandhi Museum that the president will visit shortly after coming to Mumbai on Saturday. U.S. security officials came up with the plan after inspection of the route to the museum and found that the area was too congested to handle. The mile-long tunnel that will be large enough to allow the unit through ride Obama, will be put in an hour.Several White House officials and U.S. security agencies have been in India for the last couple of weeks, with helicopters, a boat and high-end security systems, preparation for the visit. While safety is a major concern, Americans are not convinced the costs involved.
"Some people say Obama does not understand. I say we get very good. He does not care. He has his cake and eat it with all the ingredients can get into it and to hell with anyone else," writes a reader to a web page in response to the report on the cost of travel. "This man has had more vacation time in his two years in office I've ever had in my life. It does not matter that U.S. citizens are living in tents, provided it is not."
Bill Hammersley, another writer on the website under criticism. "Every time I see this article, the number of people grows and grows. It started as 150 people and is now 20 times that size. This is the kind of exaggeration that most of us look so stupid and ignorant."
$ 200 million a day during the four-day stay, total spending can not be anywhere close to $ 1 billion, perhaps much less. But this is apparently a bit much for working Americans through a recession to digest. A large proportion of them are struggling without jobs and factories continue to close. Thousands of people have lost their homes since the financial crisis that is out of the economic slide in 2008.
Obama was elected exactly two years ago gave hope to the American people. Without a significant improvement in the economic situation, the sense of hope has been replaced by frustration and fear that resulted in a dramatic vote against the president and his Democratic Party in the midterm elections this week. As Bill, one of several troubled U.S., wrote after returning to cast their vote: "I am totally speechless when it comes to Obama and his clowns and political turmoil as a whole I can not express my anger and resentment more .. "
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