February 25, 2009
Larry Klayman, the founder of Freedom Watch, a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today announced that he filed a FOIA request to the General Services Administration, regarding the Obamas’ White House redecorating expenditures. It was recently announced that Obama will spend in excess of $100,000 dollars to redecorate the White House. This is an odd decision for Obama, who has consistently pushed the line that we are in a financial crisis not seen since the Great Depression, and that all Americans have to tighten their belts and make some sacrifices during this unprecedented crisis. It would seem as if he meant “all Americans must sacrifice except he and his family.” After spending an estimated $170 million dollars on his inauguration (George W. Bush by comparison spent $157 million), he is giving the entire $100,000 dollar allotment from Congress to the notoriously expensive decorator, Michael Smith.
In this time of economic hardship for most ordinary Americans, is it really necessary to spend this kind of money on redecorating the White House” In what is already a beautiful house by most standards, and with a secret warehouse at their disposal in Maryland which houses thousands of pieces of furniture from previous first families, Obama is spending taxpayer money on furniture from Ikea, Target, and Kohls, and is cluttering the esteemed living quarters that once housed the likes of Washington and Lincoln with these cheap, imported, foreign-made products. That money must really be burning a hole in his pocket for him to make these kinds of frivolous purchases, a hole that the taxpayers will probably be forced to pay for as well. For many people, $100,000 is the cost of an entire home, for the Obamas, it is merely the cost of redecorating what is already the most revered and coveted of houses in the world.
If Obama really means what he says about making sacrifices, then for the sake of credibility, perhaps he would be best served by setting an example that the rest of the country can emulate. Founder Larry Klayman states, “The last thing this country needs is another leader who tells us one thing and then does another behind closed doors. What this country really needs is a leader who is willing to be straight with the American people and can walk the walk, not just talk the talk.”