Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, January 9, 2015
Obama’s Hawaii vacation is over, now it’s time for taxpayers to pay tab
By Malia Zimmerman @ 12:45 PM :: 6322 Views :: Honolulu County, Obama

Obama’s Hawaii vacation is over, now it’s time for taxpayers to pay massive tab

Photo by Hawaii Reporter

EXCLUSIVE: President Barack Obama stays in this multimillion home on Kailua Beach. Photo by Hawaii Reporter

by Malia Zimmerman, Watchdog.org, January 9, 2015

HONOLULU – President Barack Obama and his family just spent their Christmas and New Year’s holidays in Kailua. Now it’s time for taxpayers to pick up the tab.

While the Obamas and friends who accompany them pay for their own private vacation home rentals on or near Kailua Beach, taxpayers foot a multimillion dollar tab for everything from a stand-by ambulance to the fuel for Air Force One.

Local taxpayers pick up the bill for Honolulu Police Department escorts who guard Obama, first lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha around the clock. Figures just released by HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu show HPD spent $277,000 on overtime costs this year during the president’s 16-day vacation. That’s $16,000 less than in 2013, but $60,000 more than in 2012.

The Emergency Management Services department also dispatches an ambulance to be on call for the president, which annually costs the city about $15,890.

Photo courtesy of Hawaii Reporter

LUXURY: Kailua villa is where the first family spends Christmas. Photo courtesy of Hawaii Reporter

The U.S. Secret Service doesn’t disclose information about the expense for its agents to travel to and stay in Hawaii or guard the first family.

Dozens of Secret Service agents were spotted at Ala Moana Hotel checking in the day before Obama arrived. A spokeswoman for the hotel said she couldn’t release details on the number of agents who stayed there, but hotel staff told Watchdog the government rate would be about $200 a night, including taxes.

Secret Service agents, Navy SEALs and Coast Guard officials also rent private homes along the canal near the president in Kailua at a cost of $250 per room per night, according to several residents renting their homes.

The most pricey charge to taxpayers is the flight to Oahu from Washington, D.C.

Records obtained by Washington, D.C.-based Judicial Watch said “the flights to and from Honolulu for the December 2013-January 2014 Christmas vacation totaled 36.9 hours at $210,877 an hour, which comes to a flight expense alone of $7,781,361.30.”

That was an increase of $3.7 million in flight expenses Judicial Watch reported the Obamas incurred for their 2012 Honolulu Christmas vacation.

No estimates for 2014’s travel have been released by the administration.

Photo by Hawaii Reporter

BREATHTAKING, BUT COSTLY: The first family stays on Kailua Beach, which is frequently listed among the best beaches in the country. Photo by Hawaii Reporter

The cost for USAF C-17 cargo aircraft that transports presidential limos, helicopters and other support equipment to Hawaii has never been disclosed, but the round-trip flight time between Andrews Air Force Base and Hawaii is 21.5 hours, with estimated operating cost of $12,000 per hour, according to an U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

The U.S. Marine Corps provides a presidential helicopter, along with pilots and support crews for the test flights, which travel on another C-17 flight. That totals $258,000, not including costs for the four-to-six-member crew’s per diem and hotel.

The Obamas rented the same five-bedroom oceanfront villa on Kailuana Place they’ve secured for the past four years. Sūmit Capital LLC, a New York investment firm headed by Soumyo Sarkar and his wife Chinyu Sarkar, owns the multimillion-dollar property.

Security upgrades are made to the home, with bulletproof glass, additional phone lines and other detection and defense systems installed.

Since the home sits on the popular Kailua Beach, the U.S. Coast Guard stations a sea vessel nearby, while its officials use personal watercraft and smaller boats to patrol the ocean and canal surrounding the home.

The administration also rents cars for staff and security, and pays additional travel costs for Secret Service and White House staff traveling ahead of the president.

None of those costs have ever been released to the public.

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT