Does Obama Really Need to Go on a Bus Tour?

I was listening to the news on the radio today, some spokesman - not Carney - was talking about President Obama and his bus tour. He said, "It's time for Obama to get out of Washington."

ANd I just laughed. When is Obama ever in Washington? He's always out at town halls, and fund raisers, and so on.

Rush was in top form mocking him on this today, and really I have to agree with Rush. The problem with the US is obvious to all... we need jobs! Obama shouldn't need to go mingle with the common people to learn that!

Of course, Rush also mocked the fact that Obama was buying two buses specifically for this tour. According to his own source material, that is not correct. The buses will be used by all the political candidates apparently - Dem or Republican. (and the news about these buses came out on April 21, 2011.)

Here's the news from the Politico:

$2.2 million for Secret Service's new armored buses
The Secret Service has revealed to Talking Points Memo that the government has purchased two armored buses for use by President Barack Obama and Republican candidates in the 2012 presidential campaign and beyond.

The agency initially declined to tell TPM whom the buses were bought from, but based on some searches of federal databases it looked to me like the seller was Hemphill Brothers Coach Co. of Whites Creek, Tenn. Last July, the Service signed a contract for nearly $2.2 million with the firm, according to a federal procurement database. (The entry doesn't specify the number of buses.)

"The contract you found is the contract," Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said Thursday morning. "It's two buses for $1.1 million each."

"We've been overdue for having this asset in our protective fleet for some time," Donovan said. "We've been protecting presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates all the way back to the 1980s using buses during bus tours."

In the past, the service leased buses and then tried to fit them with extra security gear. But that can't provide the assurance of starting from scratch.

"They're certainly going to be used for bus tours around the country," as well as other events, Donovan said. "When protectees go to remote areas, go camping or on a motorcyle trip, we''ll bring the asset out as a mobile security facility." (Kind of like a congressman's mobile office, I guess.)

The final cost of the two new buses will exceed $2.2 million, because the Service prefers to add its own aftermarket security features to vehicles. Donovan said the service will do so in this instance as well.

The $1.1 million price tag is roughly in line with costs for custom-made, luxury motorcoaches. This company quotes prices of $1.5 million to $2.5 million for a new luxury bus.

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