{"id":12819,"date":"2016-12-31T21:33:04","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T21:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12819"},"modified":"2016-12-31T21:49:33","modified_gmt":"2016-12-31T21:49:33","slug":"presidential-expenses-how-they-do-it-in-america-by-oyewale-oyewo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=12819","title":{"rendered":"*Presidential Expenses: How they do it in America* by  Oyewale Oyewo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/buhari-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11319\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/buhari-2-300x109.jpg\" alt=\"buhari 2\" width=\"300\" height=\"109\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/buhari-2-300x109.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/buhari-2.jpg 551w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/btclab.io\/?ref=Omafume\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/btclab.io\/banners\/320x100.gif\" width=\"512\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a><\/code><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s no free lunch \u2013 or breakfast or dinner \u2013 for President Barack Obama on Thanksgiving Day. Or any other day, for that matter.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He has to dig into his own pocket to pay for his holiday feast of turkey, ham, two kinds of stuffing, sweet and regular potatoes and six different kinds of pie. It\u2019s a longstanding practice that a president pays for meals for himself, his family and personal guests.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Obama also pays for other basics \u2013 everything from toothpaste to dry cleaning.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Congress gradually began spending money to maintain an official White House staff to oversee operations and maintenance, but presidents continued to pay for personal expenses.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What it boils down to, Walters said, is that the White House is first and foremost the president\u2019s home.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAll those things that are personal in nature that we all pay for, the first family pays for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">*What is excluded?*<br \/>\nWhite House chefs who prepare the president\u2019s meals are paid by the government.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">*What else must the first family pay for?*<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Since presidents and first ladies can\u2019t easily pop into the neighborhood drug store, a White House residence staff member will pick up things like toothpaste and deodorant during shopping runs and keep the bill for Obama.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Another cost is private parties, such as the 50th birthday bash Obama threw earlier this year for first lady Michelle Obama. For private events, presidents pay for food and beverages, use of waiters and servers and setup and cleanup crews. Taxpayers are only supposed to pay for official government functions.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">*How does it work?*<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The White House usher\u2019s office prepares a detailed bill and sends a copy to the president and another to the first lady by mid-month. It is itemized to account for all the food and beverages consumed by the first family and personal guests, and includes invoices and receipts for those costs and other services.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Obama then reimburses the government.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt\u2019s just the tradition that it\u2019s continued on through time that the president will pay for their own food and, I guess, if they needed something for the house that was personal. Toothpaste, cologne or whatever,\u201d said William Bushong, chief historian at the White House Historical Association.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">*Has anyone ever complained about this?*<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The practice appeared to catch Nancy Reagan by surprise.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cNobody had told us that the president and his wife are charged for every meal, as well as for such incidentals as dry cleaning, toothpaste and other toiletries,\u201d she said shortly after she and President Ronald Reagan moved into the White House in January 1981.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Laura Bush knew about it \u2013 she\u2019s the daughter-in-law of a president \u2013 but was still unprepared for some of the costs after becoming first lady in 2001.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI was amazed by the sheer number of designer clothes that I was expected to buy, like the women before me, to meet the fashion expectations for a first lady,\u201d Mrs Bush wrote in her memoir. \u201cAfter our first year in the White House, our accountant said to George (W Bush), \u2018It costs a lot to be president,\u2019 and he was referring mainly to my clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">She also paid \u201cwith our own money\u201d for someone to blow-dry her hair most mornings \u201cjust so I could try to avoid a bad hair day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What is Obama\u2019s salary?<br \/>\nHe gets $400,000 annually, plus a $50,000 allowance to help defray costs associated with carrying out his official duties.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What are some of Obama\u2019s other personal expenses?<br \/>\nMortgage on a home in Chicago, private-school tuition for his daughters.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">What else does he get for free at the White House?<br \/>\nRent, utilities, transportation, security, medical care. Culled from the guardian.<\/p>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/market.jumia.com.ng\/computers-laptops-gaming\/?utm_source=pap&amp;utm_medium=aff&amp;utm_campaign=b364e0f2&amp;a_aid=Omafume&amp;a_bid=b364e0f2\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" title=\"\" src=\"\/\/kaymu.postaffiliatepro.com\/accounts\/default1\/a72f75b38\/b364e0f2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"597\" height=\"256\" \/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 0;\" src=\"http:\/\/kaymu.postaffiliatepro.com\/scripts\/a72f75i38?a_aid=Omafume&amp;a_bid=b364e0f2\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s no free lunch \u2013 or breakfast or dinner \u2013 for President Barack Obama on Thanksgiving Day. Or any other day, for that matter. He has to dig into his own pocket to pay for his holiday feast of turkey, ham, two kinds of stuffing, sweet and regular potatoes and six different kinds of pie. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[2653],"class_list":["post-12819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-barack-obama"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/320x100-1.gif","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3kL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12819"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12824,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12819\/revisions\/12824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}