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HONOLULU: US President Barack Obama is going to give his wife the birthday present that many parents can only dream of - time off, alone, without the children.The White House said on Saturday first lady Michelle Obama would stay in Hawaii, where the family has been on vacation for the last two weeks, rather than return home with her husband and their two girls."As part of her birthday gift from the president, the first lady will remain in Hawaii to spend time with friends ahead of her upcoming 50th birthday," a White House official said.
The remarkable part, beside the fact we are picking up the tab, if this were some Hollywood couple, the scandal sheets would be covering this as their marriage on the skids.
Michelle Obama celebrates 50th birthday in Hawaii as US shiversThe First Lady is avoiding the coldest US weather in decades by remaining in Hawaii without Barack Obama or their daughters By Raf Sanchez, WashingtonTelegraph (UK)6:41PM GMT 05 Jan 2014 As her husband and daughters returned to a frigid Washington, Michelle Obama remained in far sunnier Hawaii as part of what the White House called part of a "birthday gift from the president". She had opted to take an extended winter break with friends ahead of her 50th birthday on Jan 17, officials said. [Twelve days from now, and we're already starting the celebration???]President Barack Obama and their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, stepped back on to an icy White House lawn yesterday morning as Arctic conditions gripped much of the United States. [So is grandma back in the U.S. to take care of the kids, or is she with the Mooch?]A "polar vortex" of freezing air is descending from the North Pole and is expected to push south as far as as normally balmy Florida. Officials warned that some 140 million people, almost half of the American population, will face subzero conditions in 20 states over the coming days. [What the heck does this have to do with the interminable Obama vacation?]The coldest temperatures are predicted for two decades are predicted in Minnesota, where the mercury is expected to drop below -30F (-34C), with the wind chill effect making it feel closer to -60F (-51C). More than 4,000 flights were cancelled at airports across the northeast and midwest as authorities continued to battle against snow and ice. At New York's JFK airport a small CRJ2 jet from Toronto slid off the runway in to a bank of snow. No injuries were reported from the incident but all flights were suspended as a precaution. The worst conditions are expected today and tomorrow WEB: and state governments warned parents to keep children indoors as frostbite can set in on exposed skin within minutes. At least 11 people have been killed in weather related incidents since snow storms began across the north on Thursday. Among them was a 71-year-old woman with Alzheimer's who wandered away from her home in New York state and was found frozen to death in woods only 100 yards away. American football's playoffs were continuing despite the cold and the Green Bay Packers were due to meet the San Francisco 49ers in snow and below zero temperatures in Wisconsin last night. The Packers were offering fans free coffee and hot chocolate to keep them thawed out during the match. However, the temperatures during the game, although brutal, still looked likely to fall short of those recorded during the famous 1967 "Ice Bowl", when players suffered frostbite and the referee's lips froze around his metal whistle.
Michelle Obama Stays In Hawaii Alone As Husband And Daughters Fly Awayby Ulsterman on January 5, 2014 The White House spin is calling it a “birthday gift” from the president to his wife prior to her 50th birthday celebration. If so, since she will now be flying on her own government plan, the cost to taxpayers will be several hundred thousand dollars once she decides to return to Washington D.C. That would make it more a gift from the taxpayers than from the president. Whispers are suggesting the president and First Lady spent very little time together in Hawaii as it is – and now she is wanting more time away from him?Trouble in manufactured paradise perhaps?Your Birthday Gift to MichelleFirst Lady Michelle Obama failed to accompany President Obama and their daughters home from Hawaii today, a decision that will likely incur taxpayers at least a couple of hundred thousand dollars in costsThe White House described the move as a “birthday gift” from President Obama to his wife, allowing her to “spend times with friends ahead of her upcoming 50th birthday,” which occurs January 17. But for this gift, you are footing much of the bill.Assuming Mrs. Obama uses the type of plane she has flown before to Hawaii, the Air Force C-40B Special Mission Aircraft, the cost of a flight from Honolulu to Washington would be about $63,000. If the C-40B must be flown out to Hawaii to retrieve Mrs. Obama, as would seem likely, the first lady’s travel costs could amount to about $126,000, assuming the jet is dispatched from Washington.And the cost would be much higher still if a supply-carrying cargo jet comes home along with Michelle in addition to the cargo jet that accompanies Air Force One – particularly if that jet too must be flown out to Hawaii just for Mrs. Obama.Once you throw in the tens of thousands of dollars that must be dished out to house, pay, and support the military and Secret Service assets enlisted to protect Mrs. Obama – as well as other support staff – the price tag for her stay is probably in excess of $200,000, and possibly much more, depending on how long she remains on vacation.
