President Bush in NYC, An Observation in Government Spending

I work on the 27th floor of an office building on Lower Manhattan right off the River and the FDR Drive.

Well I saw a bunch of people looking out the window and went over to see what all the fuss was about. President Bush was arriving in the city for a talk in Midtown. Simple observation of the scene that was unfolding below me showed hundreds of people (press, police, secret service, snipers, etc.) were all stationed in their carefully orchestrated places.

I got to thinking about the financial commitment that the county undertakes every time that the President leaves Washington DC. I am sure that there are hundreds of people that need to scope out the venue, travel routes, background checks on the people that will be in attendance. The government has to move several presidential limos in advance. I spied 4 chinook helicopters from my office window.

A four hour trip to NY from DC must cost the government and consequesntly the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

I understand that this is not a lot of money in the grand scope of the annual federal budget, but it just struck me as I stared out the window as Marine One approached from JFK airport.
Apparently President Bush was arriving for a talk with the Economic Club of New York to discuss how the economy is not in a recession.

Cheers,
TMac

[This is a stock photo from Google Images from a presidential visit in January 2008. ]