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Walmart may seem an unlikely place for a president to visit, but President Barack Obama is set to come to Mountain View’s Walmart Friday morning to give a speech about energy efficiency.
The president is scheduled to speak at 9:55 a.m. Friday morning at the big box retailer on Showers Drive, where Walmart’s energy saving practices will get the spotlight as Obama talks about the importance of energy efficiency.
“From lighting and water conservation to refrigeration systems and building materials, we view our facilities as laboratories of sustainability,” Walmart says on its website.
Though Obama was reportedly scheduled to attend a fundraiser at Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s Palo Alto home, he’s now set to attend two fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee on Thursday, one at Mountain View startup incubator Y Combinator and another a dinner for 20 at Los Altos home of Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe CEO and wife of Google-founder Sergey Brin. The dinner is reportedly $32,400 a plate and tickets to the Y Combinator event reportedly range from $1,000 to $32,400 each.
The president is set to arrive by plane at Moffett Field at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon and will leave from Moffett Friday morning shortly after his talk at Walmart.
Update: The Y Combinator event has reportedly been moved to the Fairmont hotel in San Jose.
If they had dinner at that Walmart’s McDonalds, it would be cheaper …
Shocked that an American President would glorify the below living wage Walmart, with all that it represents. Seems like a Romney-esque decision.
Paying workers such a low wage that many qualify for public assistance. Thus, we all we all get to share in the cost of corporate welfare for Walmart. Costco, though also non-union, is a much better alternative for you and your community.
I wish I had a dollar for every time Obama has come to the Peninsula or SF on his fund raising stints. THINK of the exorbitant costs to the taxpayers. Do people have any idea how much it costs to fly AirForce One, plus other planes that bring cars and staff to California? What a disgrace. The $32,000 per plate dinners don’t make up for the costs of continuously coming back and forth across the country. I’d like to know what the costs were for the two planes that took Obama’s daughter and her friends to South America for Easter. With people out of work, and hungry – – – it is disgraceful for Obama to waste so much of our taxpayer dollars living extravagantly – – – while pretending to be a champion of the poorest among us.
June: I’m sure you posted similar messages about George Bush and his fundraising trips to the Bay Area, Texas and Florida. I’m sure, based on your stridency, you had many similar posts.
Please share the links. We wouldn’t want any readers to think you are a hypocrite.
I’m sure you were livid, like me, at the costs in security for the Bush twins and their gallivanting around (and I think you know what I mean…) You should again show the skeptics out there by posting links to your public objections to those girls, as well. Yes, that will show them!
Or perhaps, for our less educated readers, you could also share links about the math involved: how does our President’s travel costs compare to the trillions borrowed to wage an unprovoked war in Iraq? Some of the socialists around here probably think the federal fiscal costs incurred to the 5,000 families of service members lost in Iraq are greater than Obama’s travel costs. Silly them! If you and I only had a nickel!
Or a dollar.
Perhaps you can post a link to a copy of your letter to the editor in 2003, about your objections to those costs of the Iraq debacle?
Oh, and a special thanks for your concern for the poor – “pretending to be a champion of the poorest among us.” We so appreciate your support!
From the movie 2 wrongs make a right!
It has been reported that the President is also here on official buiseness…
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_25723272/obama-arrives-silicon-valley-fundraisers-and-energy-speech
June is right! Always so interesting to see how Liberals respond to the slightest criticism of their own. Unable to debate using facts in the arena of truth and ideas, they always respond by instead attacking their critic and trying to turn the tables however weak and invalid their claims may be. The real fact remains: Obama panders for votes to the down-and-outers, then moments later is whisked away to a lavish event where he can suck up tens of thousands of dollars per plate from his limousine-liberal supporters who somehow feel so good about themselves. What better place for this charlatan to begin than at the Walmart! It’s almost laughable!
Regarding the comment about Walmart: as anyone with any training in economics knows, if the wages paid to employees increase, Walmart will be able to hire fewer employees. Some will be out of jobs.
It’s naive to just assume that Walmart can pay more without major changes to their business model. If they pay more they will raise prices. If they raise prices, they lose business to competitors. If the lose business to competitors, their business shrinks and they need fewer people.
More jobs are better than fewer jobs. A Walmart job provides a whole lot more dignity and training than collecting welfare. Thank you Walmart for providing jobs to so many people!
June Curran wrote:
> I wish I had a dollar for every time Obama has come to
> the Peninsula or SF on his fund raising stints. THINK of
> the exorbitant costs to the taxpayers.
Exactly. And he’s barely even trying to come here under the guise of “official business” (“hey, I’ll stop by walmart, pick up some toilet paper, then we’ll go make mo’ money!”). He then sticks local government agencies with the policing costs.
Taxpayers should NOT pay for the costs of political party fundraisers!
And I voted for him in ’08, and I’d feel the same way if Romney or McCain were doing the same thing.
Both parties do it. Change the system if you dont want the Koch brothers owning the GOP either.
You will never count for much until then. Save your obama and bush hate for the billionaires buying the elections.
Hate the game, not the playahs……
“Unable to debate using facts in the arena of truth and ideas”
And your facts about Bush doing the same things as Obama in Texas, Florida and California are… ???? Yup, thought so!
“Obama panders for votes to the down-and-outers, then moments later is whisked away to a lavish event … ”
So sad. You haven’t a clue how the GOP works the circuit either. Pandering in Iowa for 2016 begin last year and will go on for EVERY GOP candidate for the next couple years. Any idea how many times Chris Christie has been there the last five years (over ten, and Iowa’s not a county in New Jersey.) Last month he hit Iowa before going to beg forgiveness, and millions, from Sheldon Adelson.
In Vegas. Again, Vegas is not a township in New Jersey.
How is Obama different? He’s not. He’s playing the game under the same rules as EVERY GOP politician is. As Bush did. As Clinton did. As Reagan did. Want to change that set of rules?
Public financing of elections.
Otherwise – any complaint risks the label: Hypocrite.
****
re: “It’s naive to just assume that Walmart can pay more without major changes to their business model.” See: “Costco”.
From the CEO of Subway about raising the minimum wage:
“The founder and CEO of Subway says a minimum wage increase wouldn’t be such a bad thing for his stores and workers and believes it should be changed so that wages rise automatically with inflation.
‘I’m not concerned,’ CEO Fred DeLuca said on Wednesday when CNBC asked him about minimum wage hikes. ‘Over the years, I’ve seen so many of these wage increases. I think it’s normal. It won’t have a negative impact hopefully, and that’s what I tell my workers.’
DeLuca’s support is noteworthy in part because of the size of his business. Subway has the most locations of any fast food chain. While a majority of small business owners support a $10.10 wage hike, major corporations of that scale typically oppose raising wages.”
Fact.
I read recently that it’s harder to get into Walmart than Harvard. Walmart’s acceptance rats of applicants looking for work is a very low 3.2%
By the way, Obama is the worst president of my lifetime. Worse than Nixon, worse than Carter.
Obama is among the best Presidents of my lifetime: Obama, Kennedy, Truman, FDR (I was a child tho).
BUT I have to agree with you re: Nixon….a sad, vengeful, mentally unbalanced man (according to Kissinger).