White House will keep Olympic office open -- Tax dollars at work

Why was the American taxpayer paying Valerie Jarrett and eight staffers to work the Chicago bid for the Olympics and now we find the office is going to be permament? Never before in history has the taxpayers been on the hook for a city's bid. Once again the Obama Administration has wasted our tax dollars while wanting everyone to conserve except him and his Administration. By what authority did the President expend taxpayer funds on an Olympic staff for Chicago? Chicago managed to spend approximately $57M on a failed bid, and now we discovered taxpayers were paying a staff as well.

Will someone please explain to us how Chicago could spend $57M on a bid for the Olympics? How many apartment complexes were bought with the plan of making millions by selling them to the Olympic Committee. This shows the Chicago corruption is alive and well not only in Chicago but has it also moved into the White House? Has anyone in Chicago asked for an accounting how a city can spend $57M on an Olympic bid? This should make everyone realize why most conservatives did not want Chicago to get the Olympics because frankly, as taxpayers, we didn't want to bail out Chicago corruption.

There does not need to be an office in the White House on the Olympics. We have a United States Olympic Committee to represent us and the President has no business butting into their business. We have serious matters at hand including Afghanistan and he has an Olympic Office and CZARs coming out his ears.

White House will keep Olympic office open

Politico
Oct 6, 2009
KENNETH P. VOGEL

Despite the embarrassing rejection of his effort to lure the 2016 Olympic Games to his hometown of Chicago, President Barack Obama will keep the first-ever White House Olympic Office, POLITICO has learned.

The White House stressed that the office, officially called the White House Office of Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport, is permanent and has purposes other than helping U.S. cities bid on and host the Olympics.

“It was always our intention that this office would continue to exist regardless of the outcome of the 2016 bid,” said a White House official, explaining that the office will work to boost youth sports and will coordinate with the State Department and other agencies to facilitate U.S. athletes’ participation in the Olympics and Paralympics in other countries.

“We are currently working to support the participation in the London and Vancouver Games,” said the official, referring to the 2012 summer and 2010 winter games, respectively. The official, who did not want to be identified discussing the internal organization of the White House, said the office has no independent budget, and is instead housed in the White House Office of Public Engagement, headed by Valerie Jarrett, a close Obama friend and senior White House adviser. Obama tapped Jarrett to head the Olympics office and lead the administration’s unprecedented effort to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago.

Jarrett and eight White House staffers worked part-time on the Chicago bid out of the White House Olympics office, said the official, who ignored questions about whether the staffing would be scaled back in light of the demise of Chicago’s bid, or whether there were any new U.S. Olympic bids in the works. When Obama unveiled the office in June, the White House specified in a release it would work with the United States Olympic Committee, as well as state and local governments to “coordinate federal resources and act as liaison to, any organizing committee for an Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted in the United States.”

Source: Politico