President Obama is in the midst of a busy week of fundraisers, stretching from New York to California, but if you are curious about how much all this traveling is costing taxpayers, you’re in for a long wait.
According to CBS News, the Obama administration “vehemently refuses” to disclose how much the president’s trips cost and how much taxpayers are being reimbursed.
“You might think they were state secrets,” CBS News White House reporter Mark Knoller said on Thursday, after the White House turned down another request for a breakdown of the costs.
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“As in other administrations, we follow all rules and regulations to ensure that the DNC [Democratic National Committee] or other relevant political committee pays what is required for the president to travel to political events,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told CBS News.
But Knoller charged that it’s more about protecting Obama’s backside.
“Very simply, the White House doesn’t want to disclose the material because it might be embarrassing and would draw lots of criticism, which Mr. Obama can do without,” he wrote.
The article notes that previous administrations have also resisted disclosing such information, but Obama has repeatedly hailed his administration as “the most transparent administration in history.”
Knoller shared a number of quotes from the president on the importance of transparency, including this comment from presidential candidate Obama in 2008:
“One of the most fundamental values we hold as Americans is that our government ought to be open and transparent; that it ought to be of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
But that was back when hope and change was still fresh and invigorating, not just another broken promise cast aside like so many dreams that never came true.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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