The State of Obama .......

On 9/11, President Bush was given the news about the attack while sitting in a grade school classroom and he was derided for the way he tried to protect the students from any anxiety. Consider how much more virulent would have been the derision if he’d been using a teleprompter. And imagine how loud the cries would have been from the media and liberals about his IQ or the lack of it.

So, where was this same outrage when Obama went to talk to a class of sixth graders last week? Because he did not go alone. Nope! He took along one large podium, complete with Presidential Seal, and two teleprompters. To talk to sixth graders?

One can only assume either that the teleprompter is like Linus’ blankie or he’s scared of sixth graders or he’s practicing for his first State of the Union appearance. If he needs 2 of ‘em for a classroom in Virginia, how many will he need for a joint session of Congress?

What device does he use to talk to his family?

But now we’re into tomorrow’s speech we know 3 things about the content.

One; Obama will blame Bush.
Two: Obama will pretend to have received the message.
Three: Obama will announce he’s going to freeze discretionary spending.

OK Obama, try the Copenhagen Climate Summit for a start. And much of that which follows stems from a CBS study, hardly a friend of the political Right in this country.

“Cameras spotted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the summit. She called the shots on who got to go. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and embattled Chairman of the Tax Committee Charles Rangel were also there. They were joined by 18 colleagues: Democrats: Waxman, Miller, Markey, Gordon, Levin, Blumenauer, DeGette, Inslee, Ryan, Butterfield, Cleaver, Giffords, and Republicans: Barton, Upton, Moore Capito, Sullivan, Blackburn and Sensenbrenner. That's not the half of it. But finding out more was a bit like trying to get the keys to Ft. Knox.

Many referred us to Speaker Pelosi who wouldn't agree to an interview. Her office said it "will comply with disclosure requirements" but wouldn't give us cost estimates or even tell us where they all stayed. Senator Inhofe (R-OK) is one of the few who provided us any detail. He attended the summit on his own for just a few hours, to give an "opposing view." "They're going because it's the biggest party of the year," Sen. Inhofe said. "The worst thing that happened there is they ran out of caviar.

Our investigation found that the congressional delegation was so large, it needed three military jets: two 737's and a Gulfstream Five -- up to 64 passengers -- traveling in luxurious comfort. Along with those who flew commercial, we counted at least 101 Congress-related attendees. And all for a summit that failed to deliver a global climate deal.

As a perk, some took spouses, since they could snag an open seat on a military jet or share a room at no extra cost to taxpayers. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was there with her husband. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) was also there with her husband. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) took his wife, as did Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI). Congressman Barton -- a climate change skeptic -- even brought along his daughter. Until required filings are made in the coming weeks, we can only figure bits and pieces of the cost to you.

· Three military jets at $9,900 per hour - $168,000 just in flight time.
· Dozens flew commercial at up to $5,000 each

Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, wasn't against a U.S. presence. But he said, "Every penny counts. Congress should be shaking the couch cushions looking for change, rather than spending cash for everybody to go to Copenhagen." Nobody we asked would defend the super-sized Congressional presence on camera. One Democrat said it showed the world that the U.S. is serious about climate change while others including Tim Ryan (D-OH) defended the expenditure in part by saying they hadn’t seen the tab.

Now let’s talk about lodging.

Apparently, the hotel of choice in Copenhagen was the 5-star Marriott and, because it’s not stupid, the hotel demanded a 6 night minimum. More than 95% of the American attendees only stayed for 2 but still you and I were stuck with the tab. And did I mention that a whole bunch of spouses went as well?

And did I mention that part of the American contingent included a “Protocol Consultant” whatever that is? And another bunch of official attendees were American medical doctors. Is not European Socialized healthcare good enough?

And the irony of it all was that the conference started within 2 weeks of the disclosure that the global warming premise is a hoax. Perhaps that’s why the attendees didn’t feel bad about producing enough climate-stunting carbon dioxide to fill 10,000 Olympic swimming pools.

And did I mention that this parade of waste was just the Congressional boondoggle? The cost of Obama's entourage is over and above all of this.

You might want to bear all this in mind when you file your taxes on April 15 or ask your resident Obama fan.

That'll make you feel better!