Taxpayer $ Spent On Obama Memoir

Hillary R. Clinton’s State Department spent $70,000 of taxpayer money on books. So what?

Well, the State Department spent the money to buy copies of Obama’s 1995 Memoir, “Dreams From My Father.” If Obama earned 10% of the purchase, the normal rate, he made $7,000. The State Department is sending out copies as Christmas gratuities, and stocking “key libraries” around the world.

Here are some purchase examples:

• The U.S. Embassy in Egypt spent $28,636 in August 2009 for copies of Obama’s memoir. Six weeks earlier, the embassy had placed a separate order for the same book for more than $9,000.
• The U.S. Embassy in South Korea spent more than $6,000 for copies of “Dreams From My Father.”
• The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, spent more than $3,800 for hardcover copies of the Indonesian version of “The Audacity of Hope.”

A review of a federal database did not reveal any examples of State Department purchases of books by former Presidents George W. Bush or Bill Clinton. The purchases of Obama’s books mostly, but not always, took place in the months after Obama was elected president. BTW, it sure is nice to know what embassies have “key libraries.”   (said sarcastically)

“It’s inappropriate for U.S. taxpayer dollars to be spent on this,” Leslie Paige, the spokesman for Citizens Against Government Waste, said. “This sounds like propaganda.”

There was no indication that the White House knew about the purchases. Noel Clay, a spokesman from the State Department, said book purchases are common and often used “to engage key audiences in discussions of foreign policy.” “We also provide key library collections with books about the United States.”

IMHO, there are two things wrong here. First, WHY does any branch of the U.S. government need to make Barack H. Obama richer? Are we not spending enough on vacations to Martha’s Vineyard, trips to Spain and Hawaii, Canadian busses, and golf balls, just to specifically name a few items? Second, although the amount spent is relatively small, what other spending is the State Department undertaking? And what other surprises await us? BTW, I can find nothing about Obama placing his book earnings in a blind trust. Please let me know if you find something. But I did find this tidbit about Obama’s 2010 income of $1.72 million and about book sales.

But that’s just my opinion.