Letters
Re “First Couple’s date night has Americans engaged,” June 6
Though I am engaged by the Obamas’ obvious love for each other, I am enraged that the American people paid $81,000 for their date.
I am sure this is an oversight and that the Obamas plan to reimburse the taxpayers for their jaunt. After all, if my husband takes me out for dinner in his company-provided vehicle, we pay for that privilege on his W-2 form at year’s end.
I applaud date night and soundly encourage all of us to make time for each other -- but not at the expense of our fellow Americans.
Deina Senik
San Clemente
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Can someone please explain to me why it is that the Obamas see fit to have one weekend dining out on Broadway and another weekend shopping with their kids in Paris with a caravan of Secret Service agents in tow?
Although I realize that President Obama is attempting to repair years of decaying relations with Europe and the rest of the world, we have our own full plate of problems right here in the U.S.A.
Obama is getting blinded by his own success, and he appears to be tone-deaf with respect to the plight of millions of Americans who are suffering right now.
Mark Calkins
Hemet
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I, for one, would prefer my president to take an $81,000 date each year of his term in office rather than start an $81-billion war for each term in office. (Poetic license taken regarding cost of wars.)
Steve Gutierrez
Claremont
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I think it is great that the president took his wife out to dinner and a show in New York (and reportedly will pay the food and entertainment portion).
I just want to make sure that he, rather than the U.S. taxpayer, paid for all of the expenses associated with the trip.
Paul Jones
Yorba Linda
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Did the costs for the president’s New York trip really add up to $81,000? It’s really sweet (and I’m not being facetious) that Obama wants to take his wife on a date, but he should spend his own money.
How many more out-of-town “dates” are taxpayers supposed to foot? Does the president think just because he has access to airplanes that he is part of the “jet set”? The American public has been cutting back on discretionary spending, yet apparently he feels no qualms spending our money for an expensive date. How does he sleep at night?
Karen C. Oishi
Long Beach