• February 15, 2012

And that is exactly where you can stick itThis is totally not change we can believe in! Some poor reporter in Indiana followed Barack Obama around all day on a bus and the Obama campaign billed his employer OVER FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS for that wonderful privilege. Some of the bill applied to transportation and supplies but over $100 was for food — which the reporter ate very little of, because who can work up an appetite for anything except man candy when Our Barry is around?

Here’s the breakdown on the bill:

Meals: $115.62.
Bus: $226.17.
Supplies: $5.54.
Files: $91.41.
Invoice total: $438.74.

Barack Obama is a reporter-bilking plutocrat, the end.

Invoice from Obama coverage another view of campaign [Herald Times]

{ 86 comments }

ManchuCandidate June 25, 2008 at 12:14 pm

Hope ain’t cheap.

shortsshortsshorts June 25, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Did it come in the form of an email with the heading:

“GIVE ME YOUR CHANGE”

loudmouthredhead June 25, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Peasants! He COULD have billed you for even basking in his magnificent aura, but DID he? No! Why? Because Lord Barry is a man of the people! *smack* Now, away with you! Back to your toiling in the turnip fields!

Doglessliberal June 25, 2008 at 12:17 pm

this is interesting because I was just talking to my husband about who paid for reporters to travel with the candidates. I know that sports reporters have to pay their own way (well, their papers pay), because it would cross an ethical line, according to them, to take “favors” from the team they followed. I have to admit, I could argue it either way: if all reporters are comped, then there is no favortism; but, if they are comped and given lots of doughnuts (see, e.g., McWalnuts and the Straight Talk Express), their coverage might be swayed by the perks. So hard to say. This article sounds a bit like whining but then you see that ridioculous way to bill for food. How hard would it be to do it a la carte?

Outstando June 25, 2008 at 12:17 pm

50 states, baby!

Darehead June 25, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Well, to be fair, Barry does have another pantsuit to feed now.

MoodProcessor June 25, 2008 at 12:22 pm

[re=24203]Doglessliberal[/re]: This is a part of the Universal Lunch program.
Obama ’08 – “All or None, Bitches!”

snig June 25, 2008 at 12:23 pm

Hell, at the the fundraising dinners they charge $500-$28500 a plate. And you can’t say, “I just had the soup and some rolls” and expect your money back. And in a few years, with the cost of gas, we’ll be nostalgic for bus rides that cost less than $300.

hopeforbill June 25, 2008 at 12:24 pm

What, no tip?

MoodProcessor June 25, 2008 at 12:26 pm

What this article fails to mention is the heavenly manna of which said turkey sandwich was assembled. Not to mention the sweet Ambrosia, hand-made by none other than Hera herself.

edgydrifter June 25, 2008 at 12:26 pm

How much would you pay for a wish sandwich? What’s a fair price for a side order of dreams?

nhunter June 25, 2008 at 12:26 pm

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

The path to the White House is paved with fresh Starbucks coffee, breakfast tacos and danish pastries.

(Please call for details of my availability for a high-priced campaign consultancy position).

Doglessliberal June 25, 2008 at 12:26 pm

[re=24211]MoodProcessor[/re]: You’ll eat it all and like it!

dearcatastrophecarlos June 25, 2008 at 12:27 pm

why wouldn’t a day’s worth of meals be $115.62? foods expensive, y’all. have you seen the price of arugula at whole foods?

jagorev June 25, 2008 at 12:27 pm

Barack won’t give free dry rubs to his press corps? What a meanie.

Servo June 25, 2008 at 12:28 pm

What’s the price to have your picture taken with Michelle?

jagorev June 25, 2008 at 12:29 pm

[re=24203]Doglessliberal[/re]: Probably much easier on the logistics to just plan a set number of meals for all reporters instead of counting who ate which meal.

23 Skidoo June 25, 2008 at 12:31 pm

$115.62 for meals? What, did they go to McGreevy’s old TGI Fridays (ass-sex threesome, not included)?

Brutus Harlot June 25, 2008 at 12:31 pm

[re=24203]Doglessliberal[/re]: Reporters being swayed by the Straight Talk Express? I never heard of such a thing.

SayItWithWookies June 25, 2008 at 12:32 pm

Watching southern Indiana blossom with Hope: Priceless.

DoctorCulturae June 25, 2008 at 12:33 pm

I also have it on high authority that Hopey does not always hang up his clothes “properly” and has had his ears fouled by hearing other people use naughty-naughty words. Shame! Horror! Where’s Dobson? Get me Dobson!

NotUrEvryDayWEzl June 25, 2008 at 12:33 pm

Clearly he should have followed the classic hobo-wedding-crasher example and nicked a few vittles for to stave off hope-deprivation.

guerilla-nation June 25, 2008 at 12:34 pm

do you know how expensive elitist arugula is these days, what with food prices so high and all? i’d say he got a bargain.

Brutus Harlot June 25, 2008 at 12:34 pm

Riding on a bus with Barry: Priceless

vicuna June 25, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Have you seen the price of arugula at Whole Foods these days? Sheesh!

jagorev June 25, 2008 at 12:39 pm

HAI GUYS HAS ANYONE MENTIONED THAT TEH ARUGULAS IS EXPENSIVE AT HOLE FOODZ?

MoodProcessor June 25, 2008 at 12:39 pm

[re=24235]vicuna[/re]: I find it ironic that Arugala tastes kinda bitter.

greatgooglymoogly June 25, 2008 at 12:39 pm

From the article: “[The reporter] essentially was billed $115.62 for a cup of soup and a turkey sandwich, because the campaign bills only for the day — not a la carte. He wasn’t in Indianapolis for the full breakfast buffet, or in Terre Haute for the dinner options that included grilled salmon, baked chicken with honey glaze, beef, steamed vegetables, Greek salad, oven roasted potato, rolls and butter, water, soft drinks and coffee.”

What kind of useless, stupid, moronic, nitwit putz of a reporter does not TOTALLY SCARF ALL THE FREE FOOD he or she can get and then stuff their pockets with everything else(like Dan Aykroyd in “Trading Places”)? Sheesh!

Paultardville June 25, 2008 at 12:40 pm

Maybe I’m an elitist, but $226.17 for a bus sounds pretty cheap.

el_chupacabra June 25, 2008 at 12:40 pm

The complaint is totally legit. I have a subscription to the Herald Times and I get 75% off because i only get the Style section. The Hoosier state is years ahead in fashionable footwear. Just saying.

greatgooglymoogly June 25, 2008 at 12:42 pm

[re=24240]jagorev[/re]: Hey, have you heard? Arugula — at Whole Foods — is EXPENSIVE! HA! Whatta riot!

DoctorCulturae June 25, 2008 at 12:42 pm

Nice to see in the pix the Preznit2B has mastered the JFK-Clinton thumb gesture. Some things must be not be changed.

capitol-hillbilly June 25, 2008 at 12:44 pm

If sandwichers are $115, only elitists will have sandwiches.

choinski June 25, 2008 at 12:44 pm

Tsk tsk. Now the Airlines are all going to follow suit.

Brutus Harlot June 25, 2008 at 12:45 pm

[re=24245]greatgooglymoogly[/re]: Why don’t you just buy your arugula at the corner bodega?

DoctorCulturae June 25, 2008 at 12:47 pm

[re=24245]greatgooglymoogly[/re]: And arugula sounds kinda, I don’t know, foreign. Isn’t arugula a muzlem word? Dobson he eats muzlem food!

AxmxZ June 25, 2008 at 12:48 pm

They should’ve gone to the salad bar at Applebees.

forgracie June 25, 2008 at 12:50 pm

Freedom aint free baby!

Q2 June 25, 2008 at 12:52 pm

You take that suckas lunch money Barry!…you are Da Bringer of Hope!…The Changling!…Da Denier of Da Decider!…you’re entitled to it!

ForeignSickSpecialist June 25, 2008 at 12:53 pm

[re=24228]Brutus Harlot[/re]: It ain’t the Express, it’s the donuts. Cops, reporters, and actors all are swayed easily by a box of day old nutz o’ dough.

AxmxZ June 25, 2008 at 12:53 pm

[re=24246]DoctorCulturae[/re]: That thumb is saying “Up yours, Whitey!”

greatgooglymoogly June 25, 2008 at 12:56 pm

[re=24251]Brutus Harlot[/re]: [re=24252]DoctorCulturae[/re]: Arugala! I just bought some stuff named ARUGULA! It’s expensive, that’s all that I’m saying … If you’re Muslim, you’ll get it by praying … A-RU-GU-LA!!!

Banzai77 June 25, 2008 at 12:58 pm

That’s an audaciously hopeful invoice!

Doglessliberal June 25, 2008 at 12:58 pm

[re=24224]jagorev[/re]: yes

thefrontpage June 25, 2008 at 12:59 pm

The frickin’ stupid campaign has literally tens of millions of dollars, and they actually have the stupidity to bill a local reporter for covering Obama for one day, and they bill the paper 400 bucks? This is just stupid. Yes: STUPID. More reasons why this guy should not be president. Just an insult, all around.

Quacker June 25, 2008 at 1:00 pm

Axelrod just wants to freeze out the riffraff – for instance anybody that’s a freakin’ Hoosier! Why would he even WANT Indiana?

obfuscator June 25, 2008 at 1:00 pm

[re=24253]AxmxZ[/re]:

I hope they Barry people used that as a clever ruse when they needed to move Barry without the press noticing.

“Okay, I need the all of the press people to head inside to the Applebee’s… the Senator will be in shortly, you guys just go ahead, salad bar’s waaaay in the back… “

PioBaroja June 25, 2008 at 1:01 pm

Man, I’d have to get like, what, forty-two blow jobs daily from a Florida State Rep just to pay my way through the campaign? That’s not racial transcendence. I could fuck Elliot Spitzer once, however, and be good for a week. I’m just puttin’ things in their proper perspective. Also, figuring out how all things translate into whore diamonds has become my new summer project.

DoctorCulturae June 25, 2008 at 1:03 pm

[re=24240]jagorev[/re]: huh-huh duh… so if arugula iz ‘spensive ‘N Obamuz gonna do all dem spendin’ programz ‘n stuff den maybe dey iz tellin’ ‘n warnin’ n’ scarin’ us cuz everthing he duz gonna bee ‘spenziv. YA THINK? …. weenies.

NoWireHangers June 25, 2008 at 1:03 pm

It’s a steal when you consider that $438.74 is about what John Edwards pays for a haircut.

jagorev June 25, 2008 at 1:04 pm

[re=24267]thefrontpage[/re]: That might be the single lamest reason I have ever, ever seen not to vote for Obama. Congratulations!

thefrontpage June 25, 2008 at 1:05 pm

That was sarcasm, there! Of course it’s not a major national or international issue. Sarcasm!

SayItWithWookies June 25, 2008 at 1:06 pm

Yeah we need to lay of the arugula. I move we hate on radicchio and shallots today.

DoctorCulturae June 25, 2008 at 1:07 pm

[re=24275]jagorev[/re]: [the crowd shouts and points] Lame! Lame! Lame! Lame!

greatgooglymoogly June 25, 2008 at 1:08 pm

[re=24279]SayItWithWookies[/re]: And escargot. I hate escargot. Tastes like snails or somethin’.

XOMuffintop June 25, 2008 at 1:09 pm

[re=24272]PioBaroja[/re]: Or just wave your junk and Dobson while he rubs BBQ sauce onto his nipple and you’ll be good till November.

NedPepper June 25, 2008 at 1:11 pm

[re=24222]Servo[/re]: Barry, Barry your running for prez, not signing autographs for pay ala Pete Rose

hopeforbill June 25, 2008 at 1:12 pm

Be glad there’s no cash bar. One reporter would bankrupt a major newspaper!

artbot2000 June 25, 2008 at 1:12 pm

Al this phony-poppolist whining about “ARUGULA” reminds me powerfully of Dan Quayle’s lines (fed to him by Billy Kristol, natch) about “BELGIUM Endive” — and ironically (is this irony or just some kinda pop quiz to see how many of today’s wits have no sense of history?) THAT took place (mostly) in Indiana, too.

Like, I’m sure y’all do your marketing at Walmart these days, right?

obfuscator June 25, 2008 at 1:13 pm

Lunch on the Straight Talk Express is a Metamucil shake and Cindy McC’s Snickerdoodles of Deception.

AxmxZ June 25, 2008 at 1:13 pm

[re=24267]thefrontpage[/re]: I agree! They should bankroll all the reporters! And then, when the reporters write glowing articles on Obama, there wouldn’t be ANY claims of impartiality and selling-out among ANY conservative media outlets AT ALL.

‘Tard.

NedPepper June 25, 2008 at 1:15 pm

[re=24274]NoWireHangers[/re]: Well, Ive been told that $115.62 would feed Barry’s relatives in their homeland village or a month. Village Aid, get Willie Nelson on the phone.

jagorev June 25, 2008 at 1:17 pm

I am unashamed to admit that I love arugula (or rocket as it is known elsewhere). Nothing like a sandwich made from arugula, good cheddar, and some ripe tomatoes on crusty bread, with a bit of sharp English mustard for dipping.

polar_bear June 25, 2008 at 1:17 pm

It’s the reporters own fucking fault for not eating $115.62 worth of food.

DoctorCulturae June 25, 2008 at 1:18 pm

[re=24290]artbot2000[/re]: Good cultural catch! Love to note those meme pedigrees!

How come Quail isn’t coming out to stump for McMute?

AxmxZ June 25, 2008 at 1:20 pm

[re=24297]jagorev[/re]: My boy loves the bloody stuff. I don’t. We fight over which salad mix to buy. Of course, since I usually do the shopping, I always win.

hopeforbill June 25, 2008 at 1:20 pm

Didn’t I see Sally Struthers holding a very young Barry in a commercial once?

MathewBrooks June 25, 2008 at 1:22 pm

wait wait…what was the nature of the meal? was it tuna on crackers? or was it foie gras at the four seasons?

AxmxZ June 25, 2008 at 1:23 pm

[re=24305]hopeforbill[/re]: He hasn’t gained much weight since. I guess nobody did sponsor him.

shortsshortsshorts June 25, 2008 at 1:26 pm

[re=24297]jagorev[/re]: But no raw meat? What is arugula without raw meat?
And be careful with the tomatoes. They are in attach mode these days.

NedPepper June 25, 2008 at 1:26 pm

[re=24306]MathewBrooks[/re]: You mean to say, that the media elites don’t brown bag it?

shortsshortsshorts June 25, 2008 at 1:26 pm

attack* mode
/fixed

Bill_TX June 25, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Recycling the same jokes 50 times: Priceless

SHIT ON BY ARUGULA PROFESSIONALS!!

artbot2000 June 25, 2008 at 1:39 pm

Looks like Ballad of a Thin Man just moved up to the top of Barry’s iPod playlist.

donner_froh June 25, 2008 at 1:40 pm

When Obama is President for Life of the World the press will give him his weight in diamonds and rubies every year.

artbot2000 June 25, 2008 at 1:41 pm

BTW, Alex Pareene would have spotted that Dylan reference hours before I did. What’s UP with you people?

AxmxZ June 25, 2008 at 1:43 pm

[re=24342]donner_froh[/re]: That’s not all that overmuch. Barry’s the boy Kate Moss.

NedPepper June 25, 2008 at 1:46 pm

[re=24341]artbot2000[/re]: Its not what Barry put in the medias stomachs, it is about how they digest it.

morepunkthanyou June 25, 2008 at 1:48 pm

The blog Stuff White People like did an entry on expensive sandwiches, so if you combine this post with Nader’s comments about Obama “talking white,” maybe Nader isn’t so wrong.

But if Nader’s right, the world will implode in about 3 seconds, so we might be OK.

Doc Swampy June 25, 2008 at 2:15 pm

You Obamapologists make your jokes, but I bet you wouldn’t be laughin’ so hard if it was you that had to perform unspeakable acts on cabinet members-in-waiting as payment for two Mountain Dews, a turkey sandwich and a cup of Suddenly Salad.
I’m so sorry, Eunice.

vicuna June 25, 2008 at 4:20 pm

[re=24241]MoodProcessor[/re]: Arugula, or as the French call it, roquette, is peppery, not bitter. I know this because I am an elitist.

I’m also a former reporter and I know that this dude probably stuffed his face all day with free food, even if it was store-brand Cheetos. He just doesn’t remember because of the carb coma.

Democratica June 25, 2008 at 6:09 pm

Meals: $115.62.
Bus: $226.17.
Supplies: $5.54.
Files: $91.41.

Traveling this great nation with Hopey McHoperson and his Hot & Fiesty (TM) wife? Priceless….

P.S. “All members of media who traveled with Obama that day were charged the same amount, no matter how much of the day they were with the candidate.” If Hillary’d had this kind of billing department she wouldn’t be begging for $22 million right now…

hopeforbill June 25, 2008 at 9:17 pm

[re=24309]AxmxZ[/re]: Actually, an episode of South Park suggests Sally ate all the food. This would explain a lot…

hopeforbill June 25, 2008 at 9:31 pm

[re=24222]Servo[/re]: Depends on if the picture is with the pre-primary “Black” Michelle, or the more modern “Jackie O makeover” version.

problemwithcaring June 26, 2008 at 4:19 pm

“If [the chance to travel with the campaign arises], we’ll probably skip the all-inclusive bus package and drive along behind.”

No shit, fucking HERALD TIMES. Only “dime pieces” and “Bottom Bitches” should be ridin’ in the Hope mobile.

american foxtrot June 29, 2008 at 3:03 pm

What’s the deal with Bobama’s Bobby Kennedy-esque speech thumb?

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