Posted on October 7, 2013 by Paul Mirengoff in Barack Obama, Michelle Obama,

Shutdown showdown

Evict Obama’s mother-in-law from the White House?

The idea sounds harsh to me. But, as Michael Rubin notes:

The news is full of stories of private residences on public land being shut down because of the government shutdown. Here, for example, is a story regarding an elderly couple temporarily evicted form a cabin they own on federal land. And [the federal government] is also turning people away from privately-run inns on federal land.

Why then, Rubin asks, should Marian Robinson, President Obama’s mother-in-law, continue to reside in the White House, a federally-owned business on federal land? Indeed, Rubin wonders whether “the president and his immediate family [should] vacate his federally-provided residence for the duration of the shutdown.”

There’s no denying that the president is an essential federal employee, but it may not be essential that he occupy the White House at all times. In fact, he doesn’t, and neither does his family. And it certainly isn’t essential that his mother-in-law live there.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/20...white-house.php