Cost of the Bush European tour –in the billions?

[Iterate]

Deutschland -German Green Party parliamentary leader Isa Thomas is calling for a complete accounting of expenditures in Rheinland-Pfalz caused by the recent visit of President Bush. Apart from the obvious personnel expenditure for police costs, he is also seeking an accounting for non-personnel pubic expenditures as well as private economic losses.

Most schools, businesses, and factories were closed for at least one day. Elective surgeries were canceled at the University Klink, staff placed on standby, and one entire floor cleared in case of emergency. Other hospitals were also required to limit procedures.

As was typical of many retailers, one Mainz market vendor claimed a loss of 17,000 Euro for the day. The population of the metropolitan area is over 1.2 million.

See (Deutsch) http://rhein-zeitung.de/a/rlp/t/rzo130429.html

A spokesperson for the Rhein shipping industry claims the closure of barge traffic cost nearly 500,000,000 Euro.

Lufthansa may sue the German government over extra and unexpected flight cancellations caused by modified security measures and a tardy departure of the Bush motorcade. The amount is likely to be in the many millions. See post http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1262822

In Mainz, very pragmatic city administrators are adding up the costs of everything from police pay, the welding of sewer covers, and providing portable toilets. They expect a total within a few days - “in six digits” - which will be submitted to the Office of the Federal Chancellor. It’s unclear if any compensation will be forthcoming. Retailers and workers are not likely to be compensated.

See (Deutsch) http://www.swr.de/nachrichten/rp/mainz/index.html#meldung3

It is also unclear if the American administration will be forced into an accurate accounting of its own costs. It is difficult to think of another Presidential visit on this scale: a large entourage, hundreds of vehicles, 1,000 special agents and (according to one Berlin reporter) several thousand undercover agents, 1000 extra police in Brussels, weeks of coordination with European officials, and a focused surveillance of its citizens and foreign nationals.

[peacebird]

1. * had to have photo ops, photos need people and since people

can't get near * unless they are supporters he needed thousands of special agents and undercover folk to make up the cheering crowds fawning on the emperor and cheering as he passed!

that's it!

i mean how else could * get a cheering crowd?

:evilgrin:

[Seabiscuit]

42. How else could * get a cheering crowd?

Put him in a sports arena filled with "insurgents" from the "war on terra" and let everyone take turns gang-banging him.

[Mandate My Ass]

2. Unreal-billions?

I can't believe they welded sewers shut. I've never heard of such a thing. I guess when the most hated man in the world visits, battening down the hatches is an expensive enterprise.

My sympathy, mainz. Thanks for the links.

[daydreamer]

7. over 1300 gully and canal covers were welded up

I was shocked.

[Lisa]

8. not to that extent, anyway ...

I did hear that when Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin visited Vancouver, some of the manhole covers were closed with spot-welds -- but only in certain key areas (I don't think they did it along the entire travel route!).

p.s. I know that taxpayers have sometimes complained about their own leaders taking expensive foreign trips (here in Canada, the PM and Governor-General have both been criticized recently) -- but for host countries to be this concerned about costs, especially so soon after a visit, is a new development. We've had the Queen come to town and I don't recall a lot of press coverage about how much money was spent .... and even during the last Papal visit to Canada, where the costs were no doubt pretty substantial (new facilities needed for the big outdoor mass), there weren't many objections. Even the guy whose business was flooded when a bunch of portable toilets next door overflowed wasn't filing lawsuits for compensation -- and in his case it would have been understandable.

Perhaps if the hosts really WERE getting some goodwill out of **'s European trip instead of him prancing about, lecturing everyone on "democracy", there wouldn't be any problems?

[neweurope]

48. Yes - also it's probably because all of these were the Bushista's DEMANDS

Nothing like this ever has happened. Also we Germans saw that in Slowakia for instance there were none of these security measures demanded. Bush spoke on the marketplace surrounded by locals on all sides (true he couldn't have done this in Mainz *g*).

I'm very, very pissed of about this - there were American snipers ! on balconies and roofs in Mainz. And the cost is unprecedented. All of it - even though demanded by the Bushistas - payed for by the Grman tax payer.

---------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[NYC]

12. They weld all the manhole covers shut in NYC when Bush comes.

Among other things.

[ClayZ]

30. He is afraid of going straight to HELL!

Oh my goodness oh my soul... There goes ge0rgie down the hole!

[Wickerman]

38. Its to keep Bush from slithering off into the sewer

instinct, ya know?

:D

[CentralEuropeanDude]

16. welding for the president

sorry the articles are german, but the photos are obvious ...
we are welding sewers shut for the president.

http://www.faventia.de/bilder/bilder/article/77542/133/#

http://www.rp-online.de/public/article/nachrichten/politik/special/bush-in-deutschland/78621


Oh, first post, i'm sorry for all mistakes!

[Lisa]

17. welcome to DU, CentralEuropeanDude!

I guess one could always say that with the sewers closed up, he wouldn't accidentally fall into one! (He doesn't pay attention to his surroundings much.)

[DemoTex]

23. Great photo C.E.D.! Welcome to DU.

Bu$h is the most hated man in the world. Period.

[ailsagirl]

26. I wonder if he has any clue how despised he is...

His minions keep him well-insulated, I guess...

But SOMEday, he's going to have to face a very po'd bunch of people.
:evilgrin:

[cliss]

34. He does know.

After he arrived in Europe, Bush commented on how he was not very well-liked. He made some ridiculous comparison to Benjamin Franklin (can't use Clinton, that's too recent!). He said he was "hoping for a good reception, but Rice told him to be realistic".

He kept referring to his lack of popularity.

I know that on other trips, he's been heckled and he has no doubt seen the protesters and their signs (probably not very long, though). In Australia, he was heckled while addressing the Parliament. It's happened on many occasions. He creates problems wherever he goes, and he knows it.

He's perfectly well aware of the unbelievable security around him, and he knows it's not because he's loved!!!:smoke:

He knows.

[ailsagirl]

35. Thanks, cliss, for the info

I guess it doesn't bother him, though I would think most "normal" people might be a little concerned?? I shouldn't compare him to anyone normal, though, because he's one of the most bizarre types I've ever run across.

[Ravy]

43. I think he enjoys it not being liked...makes him feel 'special'! n/t

[ashmanonar]

28. s'alright, CEdude!

and welcome to du!

[Iterate]

37. Hallo CentralEuropeanDude

Munchen looks snowy. Late spring, but we'll have sun and a coffee at the sidewalk soon enough.

I have about 40-50 fotos of Mainz and a a short .avi of the arrival that I tried to post but gave up, so you're doing better than I did. Will put them on another site and post it today.

If the biggie bigs can have their transatlantic links, so can we. The Ami Dems need to know that the world is behind them, and the world needs to know that 49+% of Ami's aren't crazy and it's only 50,000 Baptists in SW Ohio who are standing between peace and WWIII.

***FYI to all DUers and Dems nationwide: John Kerry could have walked the streets of Mainz without security and the only risk would have been blisters from the handshakes!!***

[Bo]

49. Thank You Mainz!!!!

Great to have you at DU

[lutefisk]

46. Here's the translated article- Google translation

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rp-online.de%2Fpublic%2Farticle%2Fnachrichten%2Fpolitik%2Fspecial%2Fbush-in-deutschland%2F78621&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

[ElsewheresDaughter]

47. Welcome to DU and thanks for the photos and link....bush* has created his

own fear filled world and he is loathed by the world....


he is awaiting his karma in trembling :scared:

[benddem]

19. they weld the sewers shut

every place his majesty goes. At least they didn't have to rebuild some ediface for him.

[Mugweed]

20. It was more to keep the access

blocked. The sewers are always closed up when the death cult is in town because if they don't block access, the sewer system wll become infested with neocons...they breed like cockroaches.

[oecher3]

45. well to be fair

they did it in Aachen, Germany, too, when Clinton got his Karls Preis award some years ago. but this tops it by ways. Clinton was at least seen in public with people. But you don't hear this from a visit to Chicago, or maybe it is not publized?

[Justyce]

3. Does anyone know

how much Clinton's travels cost on average? Would really be interested in comparing how much more bush's are costing due to the fact that he is so loathed that he has to have so much extra security & the way he wants things shut down for blocks so as not to expose himself to protesters, not to mention his extravagant taste...

[Zenlitened]

6. Or just compare the goodwill Clinton encountered (and still does)...

to the hatred our current "president" inspires. It's sickening, that the President of the United States of America is so reviled.

And what's really disturbing is the fact that Bush's minions get off on the fact. To their shrivelled little minds, being hated is a good thing. SHows that yer bein' persecuted, and gawd loves all the more.

George Bush is going to be the death of this country. :(

[AmBlue]

36. It's the religious whackjobs.....

....here in the U.S. and all over this planet that are going to be the death of ALL of us.

[NJCher]

41. bumpersticker

Saw one that said:

JESUS SAVE ME

from your followers.


Cher

[Iterate]

39. Clinton visited Mainz...

...and nearby Ingelheim a few years ago. It's only 12k from Mainz. Certainly there has to be some web based coverage still around. News disappears too fast.

People here at the time have told me that his security was tight, but nothing like this. And the reception was warm. He was, and still is, well liked and respected.

OK, some info.
Stopped in Frankfurt, Ramstein and Spangdahlem Air Force bases, Bonn, Ingelheim Germany

May 4-6, 1999 Addressed U.S. military personnel; met with Chancellor Schroeder; met with Kosovo refugees. after a NATO meeting in Brussels. SO a similar itinerary.

The refugees were housed in Ingelheim. Hey I know where that is. Drive by there all the time and wondered what it was for.

He also visited Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc and negotiated free and reduced aids medication for Africa. No mention yet of the costs or crowds, but it must here somewhere.

We'll keep looking. Interesting point.

[bahrbearian]

4. Send US the bill, we'll put on our Master card

[cornermouse]

5. They should have just told George to stay home...

[AZCat]

9. Couldn't we just build a couple of sets...

Import some Europeans, and tell Shrub that he couldn't look out of the windows during his "plane ride"?

He'd never know the difference, and the press has shown a willingness to play along.

[Lisa]

10. better yet, use EPCOT

It's already built, and the Disney Corp. could simply prevail upon its staff to put on European costumes and work overtime?

[AZCat]

11. Not a bad idea...

Shrub would never know the difference, and we'd piss off fewer countries.

Heck, they might even be willing to chip in to cover the overtime, if it meant they'd be free of that asshat's visits!

[pandorasox]

13. Hell, put him in the Magic Kingdom

And we won't have to see him for the next three years.

[Lisa]

14. yes, he'd be too busy trying to annex "Frontierland"!

It could be argued that the man is already in "Fantasyland".

[Mugweed]

21. *'s favorite rides

I'm not good at this so here goes:

Mission: Apocalypse

It's a Small Mind Afterall

Mr. Rove's Wild Lies

The Tax-Protected Mansion

Pirates of the Middle East

Jungle Cruise Missile

The Whitehouse Bear Jam-boree

The Carousel of Propaganda

Any more out there?

[SaveAmerica]

27. Mr. Rove's Wild Lies!!!

And we know how that ride ended : )!! All good ones.

[ashmanonar]

29. they sound good, mugweed!

i enjoy them thoroughly. :D

and all true....O.o

[Dem2theMax]

22. Force him to ride "It's a Small World" for three years.

Why do I like that image so much? :evilgrin:

[mediaman007]

15. Condi's black outfit musht have cost a million...

I doubt that this was something off the rack at Walmart!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

18. And she left the gags, whips, and chains that came with it at home

:evilgrin:

[ClayZ]

31. Condi ... Black Boots....red dresses, what has gotten into her?

[peacetalksforall]

24. Keep Bush at home.

[Kimber Scott]

25. Shameful. nt

[bloom]

32. next time they should just have a teleconference... eom

[chlamor]

33. And not even allowed to peak at the chimpansy

[moondust]

40. Send the bill to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

c/o George "Prednit" Bush

P.S. Don't come back.

[Karenina]

44. AUSGEZEICHNET!!!

Prosit!!! :toast:

In recent years, the neo-nazis can't get a permit to march in this little town of mine, because the hoopla involved in protecting 250 punks from 10,000 outraged citizens doesn't add up. ;-)

[Ferretherder]

50. This quote, from the article, really needs some of our attention!

"Apart from the obvious personnel expenditure for police costs, he is also seeking an accounting for non-personnel PUBIC expenditures as well as private economic losses." (emphasis mine)

First of all, how can you have 'pubic' expenditures that are 'non-personnel'?

And if there WERE 'pubic' expenditures, does that mean our good buddy Jeff G. went along to 'cover' the trip?

Inquiring minds want to know.