Be your guest!
Politico has it:
“I’m sure they have their political reasons for doing that, but I think it’s not what quote, hospitality, unquote is all about,” said Letitia Baldrige, who headed Jacqueline Kennedy’s White House staff in the early 1960s. “We’ve got to relax about this. To have people to the White House and worry about the price of things is laughable.”“I don’t know what the menu was, but I’m sure it wasn’t braised pheasant,” she said.
The White House did not say what was served for lunch or how much the attendees were charged. A spokeswoman said White House staff collected the credit card numbers separately from the event.
Maybe they’re trying to make up for the ‘Cash for clunkers’ fiasco, where a $1 billion was set aside, and pfft, it’s now gone.
Happy Hour at the White House
The White House frequently charges guests for their meals.
Politico.com reports that the White House frequently asks for credit-card numbers from corporate CEOs who visit the White House so they can be billed for the cost of their lunch or other meals there when they meet with Mr. Obama.”From time to time, White House guests are asked to reimburse for their meals, the reasons include ensuring there is no conflict or appearance of a conflict,” says White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “That is consistent with our tough ethics rules and we will continue the practice when appropriate.”
And,
Indeed, in previous administrations any meals offered guests were covered by official entertainment expense accounts provided for the president’s use. The fussiness of Team Obama also strikes political observers as inconsistent. “It may look good to hit CEOs up for meals, but it’s all for show,” one Democratic consultant told me. “Somehow I doubt that union leaders who show up at the White House are similarly asked to cough up dough for what they consume.”
They probably get free meals and 25 DVDs instead.
Be your guest!
Update
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Tags: Fausta's blog
August 1st, 2009 at 8:42 am
[...] in it [the health care bill].” Americans are getting very nervous about this bill. Be your guest! – faustasblog.com 08/01/2009 Politico has it: “I’m sure they have their political reasons for [...]
August 1st, 2009 at 11:09 am
Conflict of interest? REALLY? These CEO’s make millions of dollars a year, and have potential dealings with the government in the billions of dollars, but that $80 lunch is a conflict of interest? I could not make up the abject provincial stupidity of this kind of thinking.
August 1st, 2009 at 11:19 am
If I was invited to the white house, served lunch, and then handed a bill, I would have requested to see a copy of the business license that allows them to act as a restaurant. And then I would have requested to see results of their last health inspection.
Also were calories and fat content apparent on the menus? There were menus, correct?
August 1st, 2009 at 11:21 am
wonder if anyone had a coupon?
August 1st, 2009 at 11:24 am
How about that pizza guy Obama flew in to make pizzas for his guests? Who paid for his airfare? (hint: The suckers whose name begin with a “T”.)
August 1st, 2009 at 11:24 am
Of course the companies paying will deduct the cost from their taxes. That’s not the same as not having to pay in the first place, but it does emphasize that the charge is a cheap political stunt in the first place.
Hope and change.
August 1st, 2009 at 11:30 am
i order crackers and water maybe a pbj
August 1st, 2009 at 11:45 am
Tacky.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:05 pm
If I go to eat at someone’s home, I certainly don’t expect a bill. If the White House is a restaurant, does it have a DC Health Department rating sticker displayed? Signs in the restrooms requiring employees to wash their hands? Regular kitchen inspections? A business license?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
It may be for show. Obama wants to show his contempt for CEOs, and make sure they know how lucky they are to even be in his presence.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I wouldn’t break bread with the SOB in the first place.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:45 pm
“It may look good to hit CEOs up for meals, but it’s all for show,” one Democratic consultant told me. “Somehow I doubt that union leaders who show up at the White House are similarly asked to cough up dough for what they consume.”
The explanation is quite simple:
Obama considers CEOs of major U.S. companies as having to answer to him, and Obama himself answers to the unions.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:50 pm
BYOG: Bring Your Own Greed
August 1st, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Can we get a list of who was charged and who was not?
And a list of how much was charged?
It should be public info, right? A fairly simple task.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Remember, this is the Chicago Way. Corruption starts at the front door.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Its a not so subtle reminder to the business community that “we really hate you and your ‘profits’, if we could we’d behead the lot of you”.
No different from Hussein’s ’stupidly’ remark about the way Crowley acted; “we hate you whitey cops we’re in charge now and we’re going to get you”
August 1st, 2009 at 2:15 pm
The only conflict of interest, or appearance of conflict would be if the CEOs were in a position of power over the President.
Are they?
August 1st, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Re: #10 — I think Diggs has nailed it.
August 1st, 2009 at 2:19 pm
1. Despite the 0bamafellating MSM’s claims about how “classy and stylish” the 0bama’s are they have proven over and over again that they are the exact opposite.
2. They have to get cash somehow to pay for all their Waygu beef dinner parties for their friends.
3. You can get mad at this question but it does need to be asked. If all these CEO’s were black would they have charged them?
August 1st, 2009 at 2:44 pm
5. ic asks “How about that pizza guy Obama flew in to make pizzas for his guests? Who paid for his airfare? (hint: The suckers whose name begin with a “T”.)”
Actually, the owner of the restaurant claims he paid his own way.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/story/80C8C28EB579D94C862575D0000702AD?OpenDocument
“At the bustling Pi pizza restaurant in St. Louis, the staff has come up with a new mantra: “It’s just pizza!”
Just pizza, and yet still, they marvel, customers are happy to wait well upward of two hours at peak time for a table. That is, ever since news came out that Barack Obama loved this pizza so much during a campaign stop, the owners were invited to recreate it in the White House ovens.
“We tell them it’ll be two to four hours, and they say, OK!” says owner Chris Sommers, who traveled on his own dime to prepare the presidential meal in April. “This has been our own private stimulus package.”"
August 1st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
What happened to the money collected for themeals. Did Obama keep it or the DNC or the chefs? Bet you can’t get an answer to that one from this cheap @ss crew in office now.
The more I see them in action the more I want a mea culpa for anyone who voted for him and the sooner I want him and his staff and for that matter his Congress out as soon as possible – by the end of the day would not be soon enough. They have debased this country from day 1 and continue to do so the longer they are in office.
August 1st, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Do you suppose any of them had the presence of mind to ask for a receipt for their expense account voucher? And if the White House generated one, wouldn’t the be a transaction that generated a record obtainable under FOIA? Just askin’ is all. If I were a real journalist, I might be inclined to follow up. Then again, if I were a real journalist, I’d be hopin’ for a lunch invite, too. And we already know what price an MSM journalist is willing to pay for a meal at the White House…
August 1st, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Wait. Isn’t it the politician who pays the business for his meal? The idea is to show that no favor was given to the politician that might influence his decisions.
So, what does charging the business mean? Maybe, that Obama is giving nothing to those
capitalistsbusiness people. It can’t be for the benefit of the public (they don’t care). Maybe it deflects criticism from the Left. “Why did you feed those guys?”August 1st, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I want to know what Gates and the cop from Cambridge got charged for beer.
August 1st, 2009 at 9:13 pm
With Clinton, it was the Lincoln Room Motel 6, with Obama, it’s the White House Bar and Diner!
August 2nd, 2009 at 12:06 am
So when the ACORN, or MoveOn or some environmental big wigs go for lunch, do they have to hand over their credit cards or is this Obama trying to show what a hard ass he is with CEOs in his attempt at “tough ethics rules”?
The only thing that is transparent about this administration is it’s loathing of anything related to capitalism.
August 2nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
[...] HT: Slublog posting at Ace’s site, Fausta [...]
August 2nd, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Don’t these stupid mother******s know they are temporary residents in America’s house! Anyone that walks through the doors regardless of their status are guests of “ALL” of the American people.