The White House can’t seem to get their stories straight. The White House has cancelled public tours “due to the sequester” until further notice. However, the President’s Press Secretary can’t seem to get everyone on the same page. Obama would have us believe this decision was made without any input or knowledge on his part? This exchange took place between the President and George Stephanopoulos.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS:
–one more question about the spending cuts. You’ve been takin’ a lotta heat for this cancellation of the White House tours. They get– the Secret Service says it’s costs about $74,000 a week. Was canceling them really necessary?
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
You know, I have to say this was not– a decision that went up to the White House. But th– what the Secret Service explained to us was that they’re gonna have to furlough some folks. What furloughs mean is– is that people lose a day of work and a day of pay.
And, you know, the question for them is, you know, how deeply do they have to furlough their staff and is it worth it to make sure that we’ve got White House tours that means that you got a whole bunch of families who are depending on a paycheck who suddenly are seein’–
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS:
So no reconsideration?
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:
–a 5% or 10%– reduction in their pay. Well, what I’m asking them is are there ways, for example, for us to accommodate school groups– you know, who may have traveled here with some bake sales. Can we make sure that– kids, potentially, can– can still come to tour?
Here’s where Obama continues with his standard playbook. Demonize someone else [Congress] for lack of leadership and solutions. In the context of this quote, “sensibly” and “intelligent” means Obama’s way…
But– but– I’m always amused when people on the one hand say– the sequester doesn’t mean anything and the administration’s exaggerating its effects; and then whatever the specific effects are, they yell and scream and say, “Why are you doin’ that?” Well, there are consequences to Congress not having come up with a more sensible way to reduce the deficit. And what I’m proposing is if we do it smart, if we do it sensibly, if we do it in a balanced way that the American support, including, by the way, a majority of Republicans, then we don’t have to– do arbitrary stuff. We can do it in an intelligent way that’s gonna improve our economy.
Only problem is Jay Carney let the truth slip out contradicting President Obama on the cancellation of the White House Tours.
“The Secret Service made the decision about its budget, and to withdraw personnel from tours. We had to cancel the tours. It’s our job to cancel the tours. This is not a tour of the Secret Service building, it’s a tour of the White House and the grounds, and we run the tours and the invitations and that process.”
He went on to say this was a decision they “concurred with” regarding the tours. So they did have input. They can deny responsibility, but is there any doubt Obama could have said no to the Secret Service? This is the punishment we get for daring to defy the Great and Powerful O!!!
This administration must think we are all too stupid to see through these foolish false narratives. The problem is there are actually too many idiots with votes that buy into his nonsense.
Video of press briefing with Jay Carney speaking about the white house tours cancellation:
This whole fiasco brought out one former secret service agent that sums up the nonsense very quickly. Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino told Breitbart News that President Barack Obama was lying when he blamed the cancellation of White House tours on his former agency.
“The Secret Service does not make political decisions,” Bongino said. “The Secret Service makes security decisions. His statement that it was a Secret Service decision internal budget decision–and keep in mind, I’m not speaking for the Secret Service, I’m speaking from experience of being with them. All he’d have to do is cancel one or two of his political trips and his Martha’s Vineyard vacation, which two years ago I was on and helped coordinate, he would save that money times ten. There was just no way this was a sound decision. To insinuate this is the first administration where the White House social office and the Executive Office of the President had no role in cancelling public tours at the White House, that he was the first president who was left out of the decision, is absolute nonsense.”
He went on to highlight the continuing pattern of deceit coming from his administration…
“Instead of coming clean and being honest with the American people that your office and likely you as well had a role in this, he’s again pulling the wool over your eyes just like he’s done on Benghazi, the immigration release [of thousands of illegal immigrants] where he said he didn’t know and Janet Napolitano said she didn’t know, this is nonsense,” Bongino said. “These are not security or budget decisions. These are strictly political decisions. Make no mistake about it.”
No kidding the President knew about this situation. If he did not know, that is even more disturbing. He was probably too busy blowing millions on his golf outing with Tiger Woods while Michelle was off on one of her many vacations skiing in Colorado.
Links referenced in this article:
Transcript: President Obama’s Exclusive Interview With George Stephanopoulos
Carney: ‘We Had To Cancel The Tours’
Ex-Secret Service Agent: Obama ‘Absolutely Not Telling the Truth’ on White House Tours
Senator: Obama’s Golf Weekend With Tiger Cost As Much As 341 Federal Workers Furloughed
Michelle’s ski trip marks 16 Obama vacations
Photo Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.