He’s been doing this since the day he took office, schedule a few small official events during his fundraising trips so we get stuck with the bill.
Via CNS News:
President Barack Obama’s fundraising trips in October to cities in California cost taxpayers a total of $1,176,120.90 in flight expenses alone, according to records obtained from the U.S. Department of the Air Force by the investigative group Judicial Watch.
“On October 9, Obama attended a fundraiser party hosted by Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Los Angeles,” states Judicial Watch. “He also attended a closed-door ‘roundtable’ fundraiser at the home of restaurateur Michael Chow. A second event shielded from the public was scheduled for October 11 in San Francisco.”
Judicial Watch submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of the Air Force on Oct. 20, 2014 and received the records on Dec. 8, 2014. They showed that the transportation for Obama to Los Angeles on Oct. 9 for the Gwyneth Paltrow fundraiser cost taxpayers $1,011,051.30 and the transportation to San Francisco on Oct. 10 for the secret fundraiser cost taxpayers $165,069.60.
According to Judicial Watch, the Paltrow fundraiser was the thirtieth Los Angeles fundraiser for Obama since he took office and it wasn’t Paltrow’s first fundraiser for him. For his 2012 reelection campaign, Paltrow held a fundraiser where the cost was $32,400 per attendee.