Can someone help me refute this?

[guitar man]

This garbage started making its way around FB this morning. Sounds like RW garbage to me but I haven't found anything concrete to refute it yet

"The President & and 3,000 friends, family & staff are going to India for 10 days. The caravan is comprised of 40 aircraft. 500+ rooms have been rented at the Taj Mahal Hotel (the entire hotel). The carbon footprint of this 10 day trip ranks 75th on the list of emissions generated in ONE YEAR by U.S cities, right behind Raleigh, NC. Total cost of the trip...$200 million PER DAY! Yes, per day....$2 BILLION total."

thanks :hi:

[gmoney]

1. Yeah, heard that as well... don't know the facts though.

I doubt it's all "friends family and staff" however.

[polichick]

2. There's a trip to India, but the numbers must be bogus. nt

[cynatnite]

3. The numbers are pure bullshit...

Make them source it since they insist on spewing the lie. If they don't have it, then that should tell you all you need to know.

[guitar man]

6. All the sources I found it on

are right wing hack sites, haven't found it on any legitimate news sites yet.

[cynatnite]

9. They have to specifically say where the numbers came from...

Without that information, this has no credibility.

[ehrnst]

16. They're all quoting India news articles that are quoting an anonymous source.

Which may be why the very few legit western news articles aren't quoting those numbers.

After all, didn't a Chinese news agency reprint an Onion article a few years back?

[sandnsea]

4. India for 3 days, then Indonesia, Japan, Korea

A G20 summit is in there too.

[gateley]

5. I've found a couple of stories essentially saying the same thing, but I'm not

sure the information is "official" or accurate.

If it is, we should check on some of the trips Bush made and the cost of those. That's the only thing that might put this in perspective -- again, IF it is accurate.

[notesdev]

7. looks like the basics true

http://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/9807-barack-obama-books-entire-taj-mahal-palace-hotel/

That's a 5-star hotel.

Apparently there is extensive naval security as well due to the fact that it is on the water.

[ehrnst]

8. The more outrageous the numbers, the more the RW laps them up.

If there is no source, then challenge the accuracy of the numbers.

Edited to include:

The only place reporting those numbers are sourcing it from Indian newspapers. There are no western newspapers directly sourcing these numbers.


Mainstream source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Barack-and-Michelles-Mumbai-darshan-plans/articleshow/6797379.cms

RW sources:
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-raleigh/obama-to-cost-taxpayers-200-million-a-day-on-india-trip

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/11/obama_india_trip_to_cost_taxpa.html


Yes, the president has booked the entire hotel - for security. And no, he's not going to go to an Indian version of Motel 6.

I think that the numbers are being twisted, however.

[sally cat]

10. Heard that also. Might be accurate with that large of an entourage.

[littlewolf]

11. here is the link to India newpaper

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/us-to-spend-200-mn-a-day-on-obama-s-mumbai-visit-64106

the money and people part seems correct ... includes press and gov't officials and Secret Service ..etc ...
not sure about 40 planes .....

[BlueState]

21. The money and the people seem correct???????

Not to me they don't.

First, 3000 people seems wildly excessive. Second that's $66,666 per person per day.
That would be hard to spend.

Also, the article says that the 3000 figure includes journalists. Journalists will
have their expenses paid by their employers not by the taxpayer.

[geardaddy]

12. If it's RW garbage...

why would they care about the carbon footprint?

[Ginto]

13. Makes perfect sense when you include press, security, etc. nt

[hayu_lol]

14. About 3000 people involved in this trip...

this is high-risk travel with the heads of state involved.

Read the article yesterday but don't remember the site.

[ehrnst]

15. Perhaps they're confusing those dollars with the ones that are being sent over by big business

In the way of outsourcing...

[meegbear]

17. Call him on it - make him show you the numbers!

If this is true, then he should be able to prove it.

And if he does, look at the source.

[BeFree]

19. Source?

Obama needs to make available the costs.

Then compare it to how much we spend EVERYDAY on war.

[CTD]

18. It was pretty solidly debunked at, of all places...

Hannity's site

http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=2111901&

I found this thread while Googling to try to debunk it and was surprised to find the folks there largely calling bullshit on it as well.

By a few pages in, they are doing math to show how unlikely it would be (eg "even with 3000 people, that's still $66,000 per person per day. No way.").

[guitar man]

20. Thanks

That's great, a debunking a right winger can't deny :)

[BlueState]

22. Here is another article from an Indian news source with far lower numbers

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6850069.cms

It says $40 million for the whole trip and 500 people.

I can't speak to the accuracy of either source. Both seem to be
speculating.

But hey why not use it. The right wingers don't seem to care about
the accuracy!

[sally cat]

23. Apparently it was said repeatedly last night during election coverage. My daughter told me, and that

means millions might have heard it and yet the debunking today may go unnoticed. That sucks.

[Recursion]

24. Trip to India, yes. Cost, no. Carbon footprint, no idea. NT