Obama's subsidy-rich lifestyle

As much as former President Obama advises us that "at a certain point, you've made enough money," things are different when it comes to him. Redistribution advice is for little people. For him, it's all about free stuff for multimillionaires, a subsidized lifestyle if there ever was one – for trips to Tahiti, to billionaire yachts, to Italy, to the Caribbean. There hasn't really been anyone more at odds with his own advice once his own expenses are taken into account. Already, we know Obama's a copious consumer of luxury travel, given his gargantuan expenditures, often for useless or partisan political trips, while he was in office. According to the tally from Judicial Watch, it came to $105 million from the taxpayer, mostly for his end-to-end vacations.

Now, in his post-presidency, he's spending up an even bigger storm. According to a citation from Tammy Bruce: The Washington Times reported, "Former President Barack Obama is about to become the most expensive ex-president, costing taxpayers $1,153,000 next year, according to a new Congressional Research Service memo looking at the official allowances for the five living former chief executives. His $1,153,000 budget request for 2018 is more than $100,000 higher than George W. Bush's request for next year and nearly $200,000 more than Bill Clinton's expected budget. George H.W. Bush is slated to get $942,000, while Jimmy Carter will get less than half that, at just $456,000." Bruce notes that our subsidy-loving president is worth $25 million, with he and his wife scarfing up another $65 million in book deals. He's also raking in $400,000 per speech, from the likes of places such as Goldman Sachs. Apparently, he hasn't gotten to that "certain point" yet. Bruce notes that compared to other ex-presidents, Obama also is the biggest trough-feeder. He draws more than $1 million in pensions and office equipment, in addition to Secret Service protection. Yet he already has an enormous personal fortune. Sen. Joni Ernst, she writes, is trying to put a stop to it, with a bill that puts caps on how much salary and expenses a multimillionaire ex-president can claim, proposing a $200,000 pension cap and a $250,000 office equipment cap. Bruce doesn't think the bill goes far enough, but at least the cookie jar will get its lid back. The bottom line is that Obama never really sees himself as the super-rich, no matter how big his pile gets. He continues to view himself as a community organizer, taking after the welfare queens, following their example, and looting the taxpayers for all he can get.