Is President Obama’s trip to India costing taxpayers $200m a DAY?

Wow, that sounds completely preposterous!

I mean, the most expensive trip ever taken was Bill Clinton’s $50 million trip to China, it seems almost unbelievable that Hopey would spend $200 million for every day of his trip to India! That’s probably because it *is* a ludicrous and doubtful claim, one that has spread like wildfire based on a single quote from a single source that is not even linked to the US Government. Factcheck.org explains:

The hard-to-swallow claim originated with a Nov. 2 Press Trust of India article quoting an unnamed “top official” in the government of Maharashtra (one of India’s states). The source was quoted as saying that Obama’s upcoming trip to Mumbai will cost $200 million per day for security and living arrangements, among other things. The story claimed that the president would be accompanied by about 3,000 people, including Secret Service agents, government officials and journalists, and will stay at the Taj Mahal Hotel — the scene of a 2008 terrorist attack.

Of course, truth doesn’t often get in the way of a good story, and British rag the Daily Mail has run the bit of lore as news, inciting their intellectually challenged readers to foam at the mouth in the comments. The government has not disclosed the precise cost of the trip, daily or as a whole. But something Americans would do well to recall is that we are spending almost $200 million a day on the war in Afghanistan. So if you want to get your dander up about reckless spending, there’s something for you to get all righteously indignant about.