President Obama and his family have taken 28 vacations
spanning 217 days and costing the taxpayers $96 million over the course of
their eight years in the White House. That doesn’t include the Hawaiian
vacation they are currently enjoying,
yet it’s an average of 3 and ½ vacations a year, spanning an average of 27 days
a year, at an average yearly cost to the taxpayer of $12 million.
Let’s
be honest: all presidents take their work with them on vacation. Yet Democrats
blasted presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush for frequently leaving
Washington and going on vacation. (They blasted Reagan for taking naps- on doctor’s orders- after he
nearly died from an assassination attempt that left a bullet lodged within an
inch of his heart). Yet both Reagan and Bush nearly always went home, Reagan to Rancho del Cielo and
Bush to his parent’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine- or to his ranch in Texas. Obama and family, on the other hand, virtually never
return home to Chicago, opting instead to stay at lavish hotels and resorts around
the world, in places such as Palm Springs, West Palm Beach, Africa, Ireland,
Mexico, Spain, Aspen, and Hawaii. Obviously, putting his entourage up in places
such as these costs infinitely more than would staying at one’s own home. The
much longer air travel (with its attendant greenhouse gas production!) also
costs significantly more.
By
contrast, at least insofar as we are to believe him at this juncture, Donald
Trump is pledging to take relatively little vacation time, even though he will
be older than any other president was
when first taking office. In fact, in a recent interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” he stated: “There’s just so
much to be done…so I don’t think we’ll be very big on vacations, no.” He also appears
committed to following the lead of George Washington by eschewing his
presidential salary. Trump, in that same interview, said in regards to the
$400,000-a-year compensation, “No, I’m not going to take the salary. I’m not
taking it.”
And we
already know that, unlike Obama, he’ll alter his itinerary to support those
stricken by catastrophic flooding.
I’m
guessing the Big Bully would even set down his golf clubs to do so.
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