Mumbai: The US would be spending a whopping $200 million per day on President Barack Obama’s visit to the city.
“The huge amount of around $200 million would be spent on security, stay and other aspects of the Presidential visit,” a top official of the Maharashtra Government privy to the arrangements for the high-profile visit said.
Can someone do the accounting on this fiasco? A trip to India is going to cost over a billion dollars by the time it is over? Are we hosting them in their own country or what? Beers for everyone in India?
Oh, I see that John put a BS meter on it already.
Why did you report it in the first place?
Whos to say this wouldn’t be the bill, even if a Republican were in office? I think this is the new foreign aid strategy. Can’t get Congress to allocate the funds for some country? Just plan a Presidential visit there, and the “security” money flows. I’ll bet there is some NSA/CIA listening station in Mumbai, that this visit secretly helps pay for.
I hope the little fellow enjoys traveling in the imperial style he feels he deserves.
In 2 years, he will NEVER again be allowed a position of public trust nor be able to treat the public purse as a personal entertainment fund for himself and his friends.
Can obama give a chance for nasa people to go a trip for moon as chandra project trip with this money..
This blog post proves that people can believe anything they read on the internet.
I don’t see what the big deal is. We lose billions in trade to them all the time. Maybe Obama wanted to visit some of the jobs he needs to get re-elected.
Won’t they just pay in goats or chickens or something? 200 million Indian bucks can’t be worth that much in real money can it?
I want to be a Turkish Billionaire.
In (somewhat) related news, the BBC reports that:
“Officials in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) have taken extraordinary measures to protect US President Barack Obama ahead of his visit.
In their effort to provide maximum security in the run-up to his visit on Friday, they have removed coconuts which may fall on his head from trees.
All coconuts around the city’s Gandhi museum have now been cut down, an official told the BBC.”
http://bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11684382
And Batboy will be there as well.
Just as plausible as the content of the story.
Cursor_
i came here just to see how the libs would spin this. pretty funny stuff.
There’s absolutely no need for 3000 people or 40 planes to take one trip to india. It’s ludicrous spending in a depression. If the people he has to see are so important and it’s so dangerous there, fly them over here on our dime. 100 people, one plane
Now the same source (New Delhi TV) claims that Obama is bringing a fleet of 34 warships with him for protection:
http://ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-for-obama-visit-64459
So the President has to address every dumb-ass rumor about him?
John is right to point this crap out, such hyperbole needs to be reported. Where the hell are the real journalists at the “news” networks that are supposed to actually look at the facts today?
Even if this idiocy was remotely close to true, it almost certainly includes amortized costs of things like Air Force One (just sitting it costs money), the limo and security detail (even if yoiu hate Obama it is bad PR to let him die abroad in an attack), and the cost of encryped secure comms (we at least pay wholesale for satellite time, maybe they are quoting retail).
There are too many variables to even make a proper cost assessment, and then to determine what costs come from this trip.
I find it sad that the only real criticisms of this administration are mostly bullshit.
Well crud. It appears that link doesn’t want to work without the ‘www’. Here’s the full link (apologies in advance to the DU editors)
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/34-warships-sent-from-us-for-obama-visit-64459
I loathe Obama as much as the next R, but this complaining about Presidential travel is lame. It was lame when they whined about Bush’s trips and it’s lame now.
Look, to move the President safely is very expensive and burns a lot of fossil fuels. It’s just the way things are. Accept it and move on.
Maybe it was 200 million rupies which would be about 4.5 mill per day.
Here is something the Republisheep can masturbate to:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/39995283/ns/politics-decision_2010/
Future campaigning will be outsourced and politicians picked by corporations. As I like to say..”follow the money”.
Now we now what Karl Rove was doing- seizing on the Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to buy the government. Nice gig.
#46 Collin said:
Look, to move the President safely is very expensive and burns a lot of fossil fuels. It’s just the way things are. Accept it and move on.
Accept it? Never!
If the President wants to spend this sort of taxpayer money, then he has an obligation to explain what he will accomplish with the trip to India.
#48 It’s obvious that Dallas enjoys jerking off to his off-topic troll posts.
Kind of a stretch to link Campaign financing to a Presidential trip to India
Hell, we spent over a billion to have him (and the other G20 leaders) come to Toronto and that was just for the weekend. All we got out of it was a downtown core that was in lockdown for the 2 weeks prior and a couple days of riots.
What is he trying to accomplish?
$200 Million/day? I dunno, but when you include the costs for things like a kilometer-long on-the-surface bomb-proof tunnel for his entourage to journey through, who knows?
I never heard of a surface tunnel, but I’m guessing they don’t come cheap:
http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/10988.html
@53 Do you work for Fox News? NO FACT CHECKING again. George W. Bush went to India too idiot:
http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/bushvisit06gal1.html
Did you complain about that trip? Of course not.
Why did Reagan, HW Bush, Clinton, W Bush and now Obama go to India? It’s the worlds largest Democracy. It’s a nuclear power most likely to go to war (with Pakistan) so very sensitive. It’s a major economic trade partner (re: outsourcing) and a major potential resource.
Man Republicans (@53) are stupid. Their facts are just made up (like this $200 million trip, pro-oil anti-global warming bs, secret Muslim garbage, FEMA camps to imprison us after the gov steals our guns, etc).
I miss the old Nixon/Buckley Jr. smart Republicans. I might disagree with them, but yo could argue a point using facts and logic and then have a scotch with them. Now you have the power stupid (Palin, O’Donnell, Beck, Limbaugh) who are dumb, and proud of it. ARGH!
@57 If you’re really an independent and not just a “Fake News” repeater, then check your facts. This story isn’t real. It’s an internet rumor. Made up. Not true.
Come ON FOLKS! The people on here should be a little more sophisticated than this and not just believe every email or web story you see. HEY Republicans! I’ve got a GREAT financial deal for you! A sir guy just died in foreign country…he need transfer his assetss to America. If you give me your checking acoount number I propose to split proceds with you on a 80/20 bassis.
ROTFLMAO
http://factcheck.org/2010/11/ask-factcheck-trip-to-mumbai/
#50 Jbenson2… OK, never mind the simple minds wishing to debate this nonsense $200M post.
Do you agree (per my post) that Karl Rove is outsourcing campaign finance so that unlimited funds and their financiers can be hidden?
If so, do you agree this is good thing for our country and your children’s future?
#59 Two can play that game Dallas.
Do you agree that Hungarian George Soros and the SEIU public sector union is outsourcing campaign finance so that unlimited funds and their financiers can be hidden?
If so, do you agree this is good thing for our country and your children’s future?
#58 Glass, please have something better than a source that only quotes the White House as saying, “No we didn’t.” The White House also said that no one making under $250,000 will see a tax increase and we are all getting a tax increase in January.
#23 JCD
I like that more incremental BS meter
A Mumbai-style of attack could happen anywhere and you cant stay out of everywhere.
Foreign trips like this are one of the principal things presidents do. One of our nations best assets in Obama is the rest of the world loves him, he can help restore our standing in the world. India is a major and growing economic and military power. It’s next door neighbor and chief rival is the not so stable and hotspot Pakistan. As a taxpayer I’m just fine with this trip.
If you have a President like Bush send him to Riyadh, if you have a President like Obama Mumbai. Yes these trips are expensive lets get the most for our money.
NDTV is a well respected TV channel. They were the pioneers but they are no longer #1. Still, they manage to scoop the competition every now and then. Yes, this report might be true. When someone in the government wants to leak information, they think of Times of India or NDTV.
This trip is supposed to be the longest Obama is going to have abroad or in Asia at least. When Clinton came, India threw a big welcome for him and he benefited from a lot of good PR.
The Obama people realize this and they want to make the most of it. That is why they insisted on him visiting Nariman Point, which is in the financial district and is one of the most crowded places in the world. He also wanted visit all the sites of the 26/11 attack because the entire visit is meant for the audience back in the US and Americans are big suckers for terrorism fears. His folks are going to make the most of the media contigent that are shipped here.
Now, the $200 million figure could be true. When Bush came, they converted the hotel into a fortness – no exaggeration. It was like when the Soviet President visited the West. They shipped everything back from home. This is a bonanza for American companies, rather than for Indians. US government is going to pay the bills to those guys who may have to pay Indian contractors.
Note on 26/11: The 26/11 attack dragged on for days because it was meant for television and was to be used to shock the world. Officials here delayed the counter attack citing bogus reasons. Mumbai is also home to a naval base and several military installations are stationed here. Yet, they waited for a counter-terrorism unit from far away.
To all you non-believers out there in liberal land, here is some information pulled from today’s Drudge Report.
$200 million a day seems quite realistic when you take a look at this partial list of Obama’s entourage:
A fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, have been moved to patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast during his two-day stay.
While traveling on the ground, there will be a fleet of over 40 cars part of Obama’s convoy and two jets, armed with advanced communication and security systems.
13 heavy-lift aircraft with high-tech equipment, three helicopters and 500 US security personnel have arrived in India ahead of Obama’s visit.