Royal Treatment: Michelle's State Dinner Dress Estimated to Be Worth More Than a Year's Income at Poverty Line | Independent Journal Review

Royal Treatment: Michelle's State Dinner Dress Estimated to Be Worth More Than a Year's Income at Poverty Line

Emily Hulsey | On 12, Feb 2014

On a CNN segment discussing the gorgeous blue dress that Michelle Obama wore to Tuesday’s state dinner, Sally Quinn guessed that it was worth about $12,000. That’s a nice chunk of change; in fact, as Capitol City Project points out, it is more than an entire year’s income for someone at the federal poverty line.

According to the Census Bureau, the 2013 poverty line, or poverty threshold, for single person households is $11,646.

While the poverty line is different for families of different sizes and fluctuates from year to year, the last Census estimate placed the number of people in poverty at well over 46 million. They reported that the poverty rate is at 15% which is 2.5  percentage points higher than 2007.

Though it would take a single person at the poverty line over a year to pay for the estimated cost of the First Lady’s dress, it would take that same person decades to pay for the state dinner itself. If last night’s state dinner is in line with the cost of previous state dinners the bill will come in somewhere between $200,000 and $600,000. Taxpayers, as always, end up footing the check for these events.

The First Lady’s pricey attire, as well as the overall extravagance of the entire state dinner, is a glaring illustration of the disconnect between the White House and the rest of America. While some people justify the costliness of state dinners by pointing out their important role in diplomacy, it can also be argued that it is a bit insensitive to spend so much taxpayer money on a dinner when so many Americans are suffering financially.
Royal Treatment: Michelle's State Dinner Dress Estimated to Be Worth More Than a Year's Income at Poverty Line | Independent Journal Review