Obama flew brother-in-law and entire OSU team to Washington for Thanksgiving entertainment at taxpayer expense

Having returned from his Asian tour, President Obama spent the remainder of the Thanksgiving week entertaining his family and the Oregon State Basketball team.

As Michelle Obama's mother lives at the White House, the First Family thought it would be delightful if the whole family could spend Thanksgiving together. So, the President arraigned to fly his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson and his family to Washington. But, since Craig is the coach of the OSU basketball team, the Obama's invited the entire team to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with them.

Expense was no object for the Obama's since they can simply raise taxes to pay for their personal entertainment. Thus, they flew the whole OSU team, and Craig and family, to DC for a few days. They provided them with free housing as well. The team arrived on Wednesday and joined the Obama's at a Food Bank. Then, they all feasted at the White House on Thursday.

The OSU team had no games scheduled last week. Their previous game was against Purdue in New York City on November 16th. Their next game was on Sunday the 25th against Montana State in Corvallis Oregon. This means that the team had no official reason to be in Washington DC, except to be guests of the Obama's and the U.S. taxpayers.

Looking at the team picture in the White House, it appears we entertained at least 22 team members and coaches in addition to the Robinson family. Assuming first class airfare and hotel accommodations, the taxpayers probably spent around $50,000 for the President's and Mrs. Obama's entertainment.

However, since the "fiscal cliff" is facing us, Mr. Obama went back to work on Saturday. He made 2 telephone calls that day, one to Mr. Boehner and one to Mr. Reid.

This week, Mr. Obama had 2 daily briefings, met with his senior advisers and Mr. Panetta once. He is also meeting President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico today.

Below is a summary of Mr. Obama's official schedule during the week of Wednesday November 20 through Tuesday November 27, 2012.

Today, Tuesday, November 27, 2012

• President Obama is spending the entire day with VP Biden. They begin the day with a 10:30 AM daily briefing and then have lunch 2 hours later. At 3:40PM, they will meet with President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico. They wrap up the day with a 4:30 PM meeting with Mr. Panetta.

Monday, November 26, 2012

• Mister Obama started with a 10:30 AM daily briefing. He was done for the day after an 11:00 AM meeting with senior advisers.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

• Mister Obama spoke to House Speaker John Boehner over the telephone. The last time they spoke was November 16th. The President also talked with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He also visited a bookstore in Arlington VA with his daughters and purchased 15 children's books.

Friday, November 23, 2012

• Michelle Obama and her daughters received the official White House Christmas Tree.

Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 22, 2012

• Besides having dinner, the President hosted the Oregon State University basketball team in the Oval Office. The coach of the team is Mrs. Obama's brother, Craig Robinson.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

• Mister Obama pardoned the National Thanksgiving Turkey at 2:00 PM. He then participated in a service event with his family at 4:20 PM. Along with the Oregon State men's basketball team, and his family, the President distributed food at the Capital Area Food Bank.

References:
Beavers Enjoy Thanksgiving At White House With First Family
Photo of the day: Game face

18 More Fundraising Campaign Events for President Obama, wife Michelle, and VP Biden

Of the past 7 days, President Obama had remained in Washington DC for official duties only once. That was last Wednesday. He began the day at 10:30 AM meeting with Tom Vilsack.  After a lunch with VP Biden, Mr. Obama also met with Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Panetta. The official highlight was his honoring of the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Champion Baylor Bears at the White House. He ended that day attending a campaign fundraising event in Washington.

During the remaining 6 days, he attended 13 more fundraisers in the states of Florida, Nevada, California, and Oregon. Because of the tragic shooting in Colorado, the President found the opportunity to have the taxpayers pay for his West Coast swing by stopping in Colorado and meeting with families of the shooting victims.

Covering the other parts of the country, his wife Michelle campaigned in Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Ohio. Additionally, Mr. Biden worked a union crowd in Ohio.

All together, this trio attended a total of 18 campaign events in the week.

Below is a summary of the official Presidential schedule for the week of Wednesday July 18 through Tuesday July 24, 2012.

Today, Tuesday, July 24, 2012

• President Obama starts day at 1:15PM and flies from San Francisco CA to Portland OR where he will attend 2 fundraisers. Then, he hops on the plane again and flies to Seattle WA where he will attend 2 more campaign fundraising events.
• Michelle Obama attends a campaign event at Westerville Central High School in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Later, she will attend a second fundraising event in Dayton OH.

Monday, July 23, 2012

• Mr. Obama started the day at 2:25PM when he flew from San Francisco CA to Reno NV where he spoke to the VFW National Convention. Next, he flew to Oakland CA and attended 3 more fundraising campaign events.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

• Mr. Obama's schedule began at 2:15PM when he left DC and flew to Colorado to meet with families of the shooting victims. Afterward, he flew to San Francisco and spent the night there.

Friday, July 20, 2012

• Mr. Obama left West Palm Beach FL at 9:25AM and flew to Fort Myers. There, he attended 1 campaign event and then flew back to DC, ending the day at 1:45PM.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

• Mr. Obama departed the White House at 10:45AM and flew to Jacksonville FL where he attended 2 campaign fundraising events. Then, he flew to West Palm Beach and starred in 2 more fundraisers.
• VP Biden flew to Columbus Ohio and attended a Union campaign event.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

• President Obama began day at 10:30AM when he received a daily briefing. At 11AM he met with Mr. Vilsack then had lunch with Biden at 12:30. At 2:25 he honors the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Champion Baylor Bears. Next he met with Clinton and Panetta. Then dashed off to a campaign event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at 5:40PM.
• Michelle Obama flew to Philadelphia and spoke about Let's Move. Afterward, she flew to Birmingham Alabama to attend a fundraising event. She had the country pay for this excursion because she was "briefed on the tornado recovery" while in Birmingham. 

Thanksgiving with the family

The Obama Thanksgiving week was mostly dedicated to family, friends, and recreation. After hosting the country music festival last Monday, the President made a quick campaign stop in New Hampshire on Tuesday.  The public agenda for remainder of the week was not published.

However, the President did present a brief Thanksgiving morning address to the nation and telephoned soldiers in various parts of the world before digging into a Thanksgiving dinner in the White House.

On Saturday, he treated the family to watch his brother-in-law coach Oregon State to victory over Towson University.

Today, President Obama is helping the European Commission and Council address their economic recovery as well as reiterating his commitment to transatlantic law enforcement. He is also assisting in supporting democracy and prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa since these are two of the highest concerns of the American taxpayer public.

Neither Joining Forces founders in town when SEALs remains arrive back home

Yesterday afternoon, the remains of our U.S. servicemen who were killed aboard a chopper in Afghanistan reached U.S. soil when they landed at Dover Air Force Base. The President saluted and attended the solemn ceremony that followed.

However, the two founders of the Joining Forces initiative, Dr. Jill Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama, were out of town when the soldiers arrived. (see What You Can Do to Support Military Families )

We all know that Dr. Biden was in Kenya, but few of us were aware that the First Lady and family had flown to Corvallis Oregon on Monday to visit her brother. (see Michelle Obama Takes Secret Vacation to Oregon and Where's Michelle Obama as President Goes To Honor Fallen Heroes? )

Under normal circumstances, we should not expect either of these two ladies to attend the Dover ceremony. However,

• since they started the Joining Forces initiatives to: "recognize, honor, and serve our military families" (What You ...), 
• and one or both have used this initiative as a reason for us to pay their airfare and travel expenses while criss-crossing the country to attend campaign fundraisers,

we believe that one of the two should have heeded their own initiatives and attended the Dover return of our heroic servicemen.