March 16, 2009, - 10:03 am
Pimp My Swing Set: Press Lied about Cost of Obama Swing Set; Obamas Got Sweetheart Deal
By Debbie Schlussel
Recently, I reported on the gaudy Rainbow Castle swing set Barack Obama bought for his daughters and had White House slaves assemble for him.
I was aghast that Obama would tell Americans to tighten their belts and tax them to death, yet have no qualms about spending $3,500 on a swing set, which all press reports, from The Chicago Tribune to Obama-friendly US Magazine to the UK’s Times of London, noted was the cost.
But reader Mike said the swing set cost was actually over $10,000, which he knew because he bought one for his children several years ago.
Well, Mike was right. My friend, Mary, asked for a quote on the Obama swing set and got this e-mail from the company, Rainbow Recreation:
From: Chris Todeschini ctodeschini@rrofmi.com
Subject: Price
To: Mary
Date: Monday, March 9, 2009, 10:10 AM
The price for the set that you requested is normally $10,074 it is on sale for $6,679. Look at the Sunshine Castle on page 10. They are basically the same set the price for the sunshine is a little cheaper though. Normally $8,495 on sale for $5,632. Please call with any questions between the two, it is a little difficult to describe in an e-mail. Looking forward to talking with you.
Chris Todeschini
Sales
Rainbow Recreation of Michigan
As you can see, none of the figures comes close to the $3,500 figure the press reported.
The point here is that the press lied–and so did Rainbow Recreation–about the truly exorbitant cost of the Obama swing set to protect the Obamas from bad publicity. Yet again, the mainstream media was working full time on behalf of the Obamas to make us think that they don’t live like the rich elites that they are.
Read how the Chicago Tribune and Rainbow Recreation tried to downplay this absurd extravagance from a President who tells the rest of us to spend as he says, not as he does:
Despite all its bells, whistles and brass plates, the girls’ set is not the most extravagant set in the company’s catalog. Other sets come with spiral slides, spacious lofts and massive tricolored tents.
“The Obamas made a very conservative choice,” Barrus said. “It’s absolutely not over the top.”
Uh, yes it is. Nice try, attempting to sell us on this “regular Joe swing set” stuff.
Rainbow officials told a different story to The Washington Post, but they still low-balled the cost. And guess what? President Obama got a special discount. Hmmm . . . remember his claims about ethics:
The Rainbow Castle has been “tricked out with lots of bells and whistles,” says owner Greg Foster, including swings, a climbing wall, a rope ladder, a slide, monkey bars and a “penthouse with a double bubble.” (Translation: an upper-level fort with two Plexiglas windows that are deep enough to climb inside.)
Geez, it sounds like another episode of MTV’s “Pimp My Swing Set.”
For this special customer, Foster also threw in a picnic table with brass plates engraved with the names of all the U.S. presidents. “We’re very proud that the first family chose our swing set,” says Foster, “and that we built something that’s going to be part of White House history.”
Similar play sets cost about $7,000, Foster says, but the Obamas received a price break. “I’m not saying they didn’t get a good deal, but they did pay for it,” he says.
It’s getting really annoying–this “the Obamas are down-to-earth regular people” ploy the press is pushing on us. These people–who dine on arugula, shop at Whole Paycheck, er . . . Foods, buy and wear gazillion dollar designer clothes from Barneys and haute couture designers, and buy their daughters a showy $3,500, er . . . $7,000, er . . . $10,000-plus swing set–are not regular Joes.
Not by any stretch.
Bet they have a nice stereo playing Tupak and Kanye West. “Yo, yo, that’s how we roll!” Bling Bling
samurai on March 16, 2009 at 10:35 am