Trump just made an unannounced trip to Iraq on AF 1. Did he read this thread?
Nancy Reagan was unfortunately quite public about her objections to this. In fairness, it’s not as if she could just pay supermarket prices. The food comes from their special, highly controlled delivery system, and is checked 17 ways before it’s allowed to get on to POTUS’s plate. It’s one of the barriers to entry for “regular people” in high level government service.
I haven’t traveled internationally in more than a decade, so don’t know if the rules have changed. But I’ve always asked for a separate piece of paper to be stamped and then carried that with my passport. I got that advice in the 90’s when going back and forth to Ireland was considered a sign that you might be a terrorist. :dubious:
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say… no.
I’ve heard similar advice for travel in the middle east (specifically to Israel and its neighbours, who aren’t on the best of terms). But I am not sure it would works nowadays due to the prevalence of epassports (so they don’t look at stamps anymore, its all in a database tied to chip in your passport).
Well now I’m rather curious about a few things.
a. How much is the typical monthly bill (which apparently is both food and drycleaning and other assorted services) for the first family?
b. Can you tax deduct any of those expenses? Arguably, if the food is far more expensive than it is at the supermarket, the difference in cost is a direct job expense of being president. The president receives a 400k salary, but you want to make these expenses come out of the gross as a huge chunk of a pure salary of that magnitude goes to taxes.
c. What does the White House do if the first family can’t come up with the money? After all, the articles on this subject say the bill comes at the end of each month. So if the bill isn’t paid, are they to withhold service? How? If the first family get’s hungry, do you let them go to the supermarket since the House is out of food? Limit them to PB&J until they pay the bill? Stop offering dry-cleaning and let them wash their own laundry?
d. Can you garnish the president’s check? Is the IRS going to approve deductions such as in (b) or even audit them?
I’ve seen plenty about the president footing the bill for meals and personal items - but I’ve never seen anything to suggest that they pay higher prices than anyone else would be paying in DC. In fact , I’ve seen a number of articles that suggest that to a certain extent the “highly controlled delivery system” is some combination of staff shopping at different supermarkets at random days and times and staff picking up items for the First Family while running their own errands.
The general impression I’ve gotten from a few First Ladies’ comments about the bills is that the issue isn’t that they pay $200 for groceries that would cost anyone else in DC $100. It’s other things, like that the groceries that cost $200 in DC would have cost $150 in Georgia or Arkansas or Texas. Or that the First Lady suddenly needs a much more expensive wardrobe than she previously did. Or that they’re expected to entertain more people, more expensively at private functions than they did before living in the White House. I’m not talking about official state dinners - I’m talking about birthday parties and weddings and Thanksgiving dinners. The President probably can’t get away with inviting his and the First Lady’s parents for a turkey, a few side dishes and dessert.
There is video on YT of Ford making his own breakfast in the WH. They asked Nixon if he ever did that, and he replied, “Oh, no, no, I am not a cook.”
RESOLVED, That eschereal, a Poster on the Straight Dope Message Board, is impeached for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, and that the following Articles of Impeachment be exhibited to the Senate…