Author Topic: Royaly in the Whitehouse  (Read 3734 times)

Offline backupr9

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Royaly in the Whitehouse
« on: November 16, 2014, 03:49:31 PM »
What can you buy for $1.4 billion a year?
You can buy the most luxurious and costly royal presidency in history.
Taxpayers spent $1.4 billion dollars on everything from staffing, housing,
flying and entertaining President Obama and his family last year, according
to the author of a new book on taxpayer-funded presidential perks.
In comparison, British taxpayers spent just $57.8 million on the royal family.
Author Robert Keith Gray writes in “Presidential Perks Gone Royal” that
Obama isn’t the only president to have taken advantage of the expensive
trappings of his office. But the amount of money spent on the first family, he
argues, has risen tremendously under the Obama administration and needs to
be reined in.
Gray told The Daily Caller that the $1.4 billion spent on the Obama family lastyear is the “total cost of the presidency,” factoring the cost of the “biggest
staff in history at the highest wages ever,” a 50 percent increase in the
numbers of appointed czars and an Air Force One “running with the frequency
of a scheduled airline.”
In Perspective: $1.4 billion is equal to spending seven times Mitt Romney’s
entire net-worth every year.  If Romney had to pay for Barack and Michelle’s
lifestyle this year, he would have been bankrupted by the third week in February.
Now, can we please get back to talking about the evil, freeloading rich people,
who didn’t build anything and who need to "pay a little bit more."
"Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little order, will lose both, and deserve neither." 
Thomas Jefferson

Endur Fortis

Offline Richard S

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Re: Royaly in the Whitehouse
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2014, 06:46:02 PM »
And I have never in my lifetime seen a President who was more poorly served by his staff - regardless of what one might think of presidential policies.
(1963-1967) "GO ARMY!"

Offline Douglas

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Re: Royaly in the Whitehouse
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2014, 06:50:05 PM »
Agreed.

But gun-related-royally, the title made me think of this:

"The PPK's deserved reputation for reliability took something of a knock in March 1974, when a lone man, armed with a pistol, attempted to kidnap Princess Anne.

The man, Ian Ball, pulled his car in front of the Princess's limousine, forcing the driver to stop. The princess's bodyguard, Inspector James Beaton, was armed with a Walther PPK and attempted to fire at Ball. Beaton failed to fire a single shot, due to his pistol jamming.

Ball shot three more people during the kidnap attempt, although none fatally.

The malfunctioning of the Walther is more likely to have been caused by the incorrect operation of the weapon than any deficiencies in design. However, the incident caused the metropolitan police to favour revolvers for some years after."



Too bad Beaton couldn't have had an R9!


Offline Richard S

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Re: Royaly in the Whitehouse
« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2014, 07:42:39 AM »
I remember that incident. I never knew exactly what type of pistol malfunction the good Inspector experienced with his PPK but always wondered if a traditional "tap, rack, bang" drill might have solved the problem.
(1963-1967) "GO ARMY!"

Offline backupr9

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Re: Royaly in the Whitehouse
« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2014, 09:05:01 AM »
I owned a PPKS but quickly traded I'd because of the extreme difficulty of moving the safety to the "fire" position.  It also bit the thumb web painfully.  Both complaints were commonly heard at the time.
"Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little order, will lose both, and deserve neither." 
Thomas Jefferson

Endur Fortis

Offline MRC

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Re: Royaly in the Whitehouse
« Reply #5 on: November 17, 2014, 09:28:11 AM »
And I have never in my lifetime seen a President who was more poorly served by his staff - regardless of what one might think of presidential policies.

Right on Richard! 

You can judge a Leader by the quality of the people he chooses to surround himself with.  It certainly does not speak well for this President.

Offline Richard S

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Re: Royaly in the Whitehouse
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2014, 03:48:55 PM »
I owned a PPKS but quickly traded I'd because of the extreme difficulty of moving the safety to the "fire" position.  It also bit the thumb web painfully.  Both complaints were commonly heard at the time.

The safety of my PPK was a nuisance, but the infamous "Walther bite" was a complete distraction. I tend to favor a high grip on my pistols and still have a faint scar on the web between my right thumb and forefinger serving as a reminder of that nasty little tendency of the early PPKs to bite the hands that fed them.
(1963-1967) "GO ARMY!"

Offline the_skunk

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Re: Royaly in the Whitehouse
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2014, 09:37:31 PM »

The safety of my PPK was a nuisance, but the infamous "Walther bite" was a complete distraction. I tend to favor a high grip on my pistols and still have a faint scar on the web between my right thumb and forefinger serving as a reminder of that nasty little tendency of the early PPKs to bite the hands that fed them.


I had a 1911, and a Browning HP,and both had trigger bite -  very very distracting. Went to form fitting grips to solve the problem