Well, there's not much to dispute over this. According to Politico, the Secret Service -- you know the guys with the shades and suits -- has revealed to the publication that the government has snapped up two armored buses for President Obama and Republican candidates in the 2012 presidential campaign.
As you may have heard this week, President Obama is on a three-day bus tour on a crusade to "connect" with the people where he'll be spending time in the $1.1 million dollar "luxury cruiser" as one publication put it.
Given the U.S.'s financial hardship at the time, is this really the wisest investment to make? Although it is the job of the Secret Service to protect these obviously high-profile individuals, was this the ONLY way to do so?
And just think it was only so long ago that the CEOs of the Detroit Three were getting blasted for hopping on private jets to get to and from big meetings in Washington D.C. during the auto crisis. After that hubbub I recall the leaders of the automakers DRIVING to D.C. in their latest economical offerings.
Although I understand that it is wise to protect the individuals running for office, are two armored buses the best way to go about it?
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."
[Source: Politico]
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