From Fox News: The Democratic National Committee has informed a Connecticut town it
will not be reimbursed for the thousands of dollars the city spent on
costs for President Obama's fundraising visit earlier this month.
Gordon Joseloff, the first selectman of Westport, says he was
informed this week the town's request to have the DNC and Obama for
America cover the $14,812 the city paid in police and fire overtime was
denied.
The president traveled to the area on Aug. 6 to attend a fundraiser
in Stamford and a $35,800 per person dinner at the Westport home of
movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
Local officials even shut down two popular public beaches to
accommodate the president. They closed the 238-acre Sherwood Island
State Park so the president's helicopter could land, and also closed the
roughly two-acre Burying Hill Beach -- adjacent to Weinstein's
mansion.
The New Haven Register reports that an executive of the Democratic
National Committee wrote that as a private organization it did not
participate in security, traffic control, fire or emergency planning.
She referred questions to the Secret Service.
Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola, Jr. on Wednesday called on Obama's campaign to step up with the money.
"It is shameful that President Obama believes the taxpayers of
Westport should pay for $14,812 of expenses incurred for his political
campaign fundraising events. The Obama campaign should immediately
reimburse the town for those costs," he said. "It's bad enough to close
down a public beach and a state park in the middle of a heat wave in
order to park the helicopter for a campaign event, but to expect the
town taxpayers to also foot the bill -- for events which raised millions
of dollars for partisan events that relate solely to Obama's
re-election -- is over the top....
In Westport, Joseloff added the president also had the opportunity to
soften any hard feelings in the town about the visit's costs by holding a
public event, such as visiting a nearby 9/11 memorial. He noted that
though the memorial was just yards from where the president's helicopter
landed, Obama did not visit it.
Plain and simple, this is theft of services by a very arrogant man and political party.
The Las Vegas Badger is about politics, humor, sports, reality shows in Las Vegas, especially Pawn Stars and anything else interesting. While I live in Las Vegas, my heart is still in Wisconsin. Thanks for visiting the blog and feel free to browse the web site.
Interesting article and one which should be more widely known about in my view. Your level of detail is good and the clarity of writing is excellent.
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