Posted on October 6th, 2014 by Leonard Steinberg

Presidents of both parties have to visit big cities for official business. But surely the President does not have to visit New York tomorrow, the second time within a month, for a FUNDRAISER, thereby blocking off traffic, making navigating the West Chelsea area a total and thorough nightmare and costing the taxpayers of New York and the USA at least $1 MILLION for security and all the complexities involved in transporting a President into a large City like New York? Tickets for this event cost $ 25,000 per person (about 66% more than the annual earnings of a worker earning minimum wage in the USA). We all know how expensive politics is, but surely the excessive cost to the city for a fundraiser (not something related to government business) shouldn’t be the burden of taxpayers? Why don’t the costs of these fundraising trips get picked up by the political parties who are swimming in money? Surely Presidential visits should stimulate the economy not suffocate it?

This trip will cost the taxpayers over $1 million…..the cost for flying, security, transportation, barricades, overtime, etc. Parking has been eliminated from countless blocks obstructing commerce. Then add in the extra fuel used by additional traffic congestion, not to mention the pollution it creates. Surely in this digital age we are capable of doing fundraising speeches via satellite? Surely the government has better things to do with our tax dollars than to spend it on fundraising trips at a time when Isis, Ebola and whole host of other issues should be the priority? Do voters not contribute enough dollars to their respective parties unless there is a good photo-op? Surely their belief in their cause combined with a speech broadcast via satellite should be enough?