The upcoming Presidential visit to India has set off a debate in the media and blogosphere about whether the White House is squandering public money in times of a brokeback economic scenario. After one botched report said that the trip will cost a whopping $200 million a day, there was widespread anger about the tab passes on to the ex-chequer.

But the botched news that went viral was a fake, else Obama would have been set for another round of shellacking. The White House clarified that the amount had been wildly inflated and only the essential security demand costs are being met.

Obama might well pick up some Gandhian frugality tips from India, given the dismal economic scenario which meant a rout in the House with the resurgent Republicans all set to put a spanner in Obama’s policies.

Spokesman Tommy Vietor said on behalf of the White House that the trip which will have its first leg in South Korea, Japan and Indonesia has a bulk of its spending amound allocated to vital security procedures.

The Republicans for whom it is Tea Party time after sweeping poll wins, were quick to latch on to this opportunity to malign the troubled Prez. Talking to interlocutor Anderson Cooper on CNN, Republican Michele Bachmann poured vitriol on the ‘massive overspending’, citing the report which first originated in an Indian media house.

But the astronomic sum is sure a fake with the White House giving transparent details on spending.

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