Should Tax Payers Foot Barack Obama's Reelection Fundraising Bills?

Impact

President Obama held his first reelection fundraiser in April of last year, 18 months before the election. Since then, the president has been traveling throughout the country to raise money for his reelection campaign and the Democratic Party. In January, for instance, the president held a $38,500 a head dinner at Spike Lee's residence in New York City.

As you can imagine, it's not cheap for the president to travel to and then attend such a big event. At the end of last week, Obama took an $8 million dollar fund raising trip to California. The taxpayer pays for part of the cost of shuttling Obama around in helicopters, providing security like bulletproof limousines, and closing off streets and other accessways.

The taxpayers does not bear the entire cost of Obama's reelection campaign because the DNC is obligated to kick in some money to defray the cost of trips like the one to California, but a significant amount is still paid by American citizens. Not only that, the amount that the DNC has to pay the federal government is probably more than covered by the money that is raised by the events themselves.

What do you think about this? Is it fair for President Obama to take advantage of his office to fund his reelection campaign and should taxpayers have to pay for his trips?

Photo Credit: Allison Harger