Patriot Update

I was watching a video clip from Bill O’Reilly’s show about how “not all Martha’s Vineyard residents were happy about Obama vacationing there. “

Near the end, one very angry looking liberal said, “Obama’s taken what, 61 days at this point, and George Bush took 180 days at this point.  I think he’s okay.”

Really?   Was this true?

According to my Bing search, those are definitely the vacation numbers the Main Stream Media blockade is heavily promoting, along with articles about how Obama has taken ‘much less vacations than President Bush or Reagan.’

I dug deeper—trudging through the many faces of Media Matters, Huffington Post etc. but the closest I came to a semi-accurate account of Obama’s vacation days came from reporter Mark Knoller for CBS “News”.

According to Knoller:

• Since taking office, President Obama has taken 10 “vacation” trips of lengths from 2 days to 12.
• They total all or part of 61 days.
• His “vacation” starting today is #11.
• These numbers are separate from his 20 visits to Camp David spanning all or part of 48 days

WAIT a minute…WHY are Obama’s Camp David visits not included in that number?  Isn’t Camp David the famous Presidential Playground?  If not, why is it called “Camp” David?

Knoller made a big point of saying that President Reagan made 43 trips to his ranch in FOUR YEARS, totaling 349 days.  He also said President George W. Bush made 77 visits to his ranch in FOUR YEARS, totaling 490 days.

Since Obama doesn’t own a ranch—as both Reagan and Bush did—then his Camp David vacations (oops, I mean “visits”) definitely SHOULD count.  If Obama owned a ranch, I think we all know that there he would be (and I’m sure he’d have a golf course on that sucker, too).

So let’s re-do Obama’s vacation numbers, using reality this time.

In less than TWO YEARS Obama has spent 61 days ‘regular’ vacation plus 48 days at Camp David which equals 109 vacation days.

But even this number doesn’t seem to quite jive.  What does CBS’s Knoller consider a “vacation”?

Does Obama’s trip to Indonesia count as a “vacation”, or was that considered a work trip?  Most of the reports called that one a Muslim outreach trip—however he did take his entire family and they did seem to have lots and lots of fun while they were there… And what about his jaunt through Ireland?  That trip, too, wasn’t called a “vacation” in any of the reports I found, although Barack was photographed chugging beer in a pub.

Does Knoller consider playing golf every weekend a “vacation”?  As of March, Obama had played 60 rounds of golf—or in liberal terms, “Obama has spent two months of his presidency on the golf course.”

Another thing I couldn’t find real answers for were the costs of Obama’s vacations.  I don’t recall Presidents Reagan or Bush taking ultra-expensive, in-your-face European vacations the way Obama and his wife do.

Again, the liberal articles were overpoweringly pro-Obama when I did a Bing search but I did find a Blaze article about the Obama’s fancy Hawaiian Christmas vacation last year which estimated the TAXPAYER TAB to be at almost $1.5 million.  Here’s the breakdown from the Hawaii Reporter:

• Mrs. Obama’s early flight to Hawaii: $63,000 (White House Dossier)
• Obama’s round trip flight to Hawaii: $1 million (GAO estimates)
• Housing in beachfront homes for Secret Service and Seals in Kailua ($1,200 a day for 14 days): $16,800
• Costs for White House staff staying at Moana Hotel: $134,400 ($400 per day for 24 staff) – excluding meals and other room costs
• Police overtime: $250,000 (2009 costs reported by Honolulu Police Department)
• Ambulance: $10,000 (City Spokesperson)
• TOTAL COST: $1,474,200

Then there are the unknown costs:

• Rental of office building in Kailua on canal
• Security upgrades and additional phone lines
• Costs for car rentals and fuel for White House staff staying at Moana Hotel (Secret Service imports most of the cars used here to escort the president)
• Surveillance before the president arrives
• Travel costs for Secret Service and White House staff traveling ahead of the President

The interesting thing about this particular trip is that the report suggested that the Obamas could have stayed on beachfront military bases to save taxpayers money and cut down on security cost and personnel.

“The president visits the military base daily to workout, bowl with his kids or enjoy the more private beach there,” the report said.  “He also could have stayed at a home 15 minutes away on the beach fronting Bellows Air Force Base as President Bill Clinton did.”

And then there’s Michelle.  How much have all her separate ultra-elitist vacations cost us taxpayers?   A report in the UK Daily Mail says we the taxpayers have reportedly spent $10 million on Michelle’s vacations IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE! Has there ever been a First Lady in the history of the United States who can match Michelle’s lavish vacations, taking along everyone in her entire family (sans Barack), friends and a huge entourage?

According to whitehousedossier.com, Michelle’s trip to South Africa this year cost taxpayers an estimated $800,000 (when you include the use of Air Force Two).  And let’s not forget her previous solo-trip to Spain, which was estimated at $400,000+.

And remember when the Obamas’ dog flew separately on their vacation to Maine last year?

Or the Obama’s “date night” when they took Air Force One to New York for dinner and a Broadway show, then flew back home again???    How much the heck did THAT cost us?

The spin is spinning so fast in the Main Stream Media right now that, as usual, they’re hoping if they throw out vague numbers of past presidents’ we’ll forget all these pesky details regarding the Obama’s.

You’ll see these numbers over and over:  Obama 61, Bush 180.

When you see these numbers, remember to QUESTION THEM and research for yourself.  Remember that President Bush spent most of his vacation days on his own personal ranch—not spending exorbitant amounts of taxpayer dollars on over-the-top European vacations.

I don’t know.  I find it a little frustrating that with unemployment at 9% and with our country on the verge of economic collapse, the Obama’s’ indulgent vacations seem like, I don’t know, a bit of a slap in the face to struggling Americans.

It’s sort of like Barack and Michelle are laughingly saying, “Look what we get to do that all you little people will never get to do in your entire lifetime!”

Or maybe I’m just bitter that my husband and I weren’t able to take our own summer vacation this year because of economic instability.  All I know for sure is that while the Obama’s are partying it up once again, it feels like us taxpayers footing their bills are in for a rough winter…