Prepare to be outraged. Sometimes I wonder why Obama got himself elected President. He doesn’t seem to like our allies, our country, or even his job. But then something comes along to remind me exactly why he and the missus took the job. . . taxpayer-funded vacations.Like some 14th Century despot, our Kenyan Overlord and his Klingon wife seem to view the Treasury as their own personal piggy bank. Be it divebombing New York City on Air Force One for date night, overnighting in Chicago just to see the old digs, or taxpayer-funded parties at all hours of the night at the White House, the Obamas do love a free vacation. Indeed, you may have noticed a plethora of taxpayer-funded trips:
• January-February 2009: No major vacations. . . Obama wants to make a good first impression on the job.And this doesn’t even count things like the May 2009 trip to New York, where Lady Obama gorged herself on lobster and Klingon Gahch while Obama partied hardy with Wanda Sykes in the other room. Or July 21, when a whole heap ‘o country folks done come to the White House to sing to our hard-vacationing President. Or the more than 40 times Obama has played golf since becoming President.• March/April 2009: Obama and Lady Obama visit Britain where Lady Obama pats the Queen on the royal tush before going shopping, as Obama hands out i-pods with his own speeches on them.
Coppin' a Queen size feel. . . we are not amused.
• June 2009: Obama and Lady Obama visit France, where Obama does a few D-day-ish-y things while Lady Obama and the kids go a shoppin' in Paris and take in the touristy sights. Later they do a little swinging with Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife.
• July 2009: Obama brings the missus to Russia so she can shop while he gives away our nuclear deterrent to a group of smirking former KGB types. He also brings batteries for the defective reset button Hillary brought a few weeks before.
Shop til the taxpayer drops. . . oh, and wear Muppet fur, it's more humane.
• August 2009: Obama takes the family for a much needed vacation to the Grand Canyon in hateful Arizona.
• August 2009: Obama takes the family for an even much more needed vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, where all effete anti-Americans eventually end up.
• September 2009: Obama, Lady Obama and Oprah Winfrey fly to Copenhagen so they can pimp for Chicago to win the Olympics. . . and do a little shopping.
• December 2009: Obama and the missus go to Oslo so he can pick up a Nobel Prize he won from Publisher’s Clearing House, and she can do a little shopping. Apparently, the Obamas were so deeply into their opulent vacation that they snubbed King Harald of Norway by blowing off a dinner invite. . . he cried.
• December 2009/January 2010: Obama takes Christmas off in Hawaii, where it takes him a couple days to realize there was an attempted man-made disasterist bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight. But then, explosions in Detroit aren’t really news.
• April 2010: With BP oil flowing freely in the Gulf and Obama’s golf game suffering from media attention, Obama decided to duck out for a quick family vacation in Asheville, North Carolina, home of the “You’re-Paying-For-This-Taxpayer” Corn Dog.
• May 2010: Obama takes his second vacation since the BP oil spill began. This time he went to Chicago, far away from that pesky Memorial Day ceremony taking place at Arlington Cemetery. Who cares about the dead anyways, what did they ever do for us? Besides, they don’t vote. . . except in Chicago.
What's your most expensive room?
• July 2010: Obama took the family to Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in Maine to relax as a reward for skillfully avoiding even the appearance of competence in the BP disaster.
• August 2010: Lady O and the kids are heading to Spain for a “private mother-daughter” trip, where they will do touristy things like meet the King and Queen of Spain. You haven't lived until you've done the running of the Queens.
• August 2010: Before heading back to the Vineyards for a much needed third vacation this August, Obama and the family are headed to Florida to show tourists that they should visit Florida despite the BP oil spill. . . in Louisiana.
• August 19, 2010: Obama will take the family to Martha’s Vineyard, for a much needed vacation.
Baby got back. . . swing.
How many vacation days did you get last year? And did the taxpayers pay for them?
Now Andrew, be fair - As it has been explained to me by the HuffPoops, Obama is not like any OTHER President. He is special because he has had to be President 24/7! He deserves his vacations...and private parties...and ballgames...and private concerts...and golf.
ReplyDeleteAND didn't you know that Bush took 800 days of vacation in HIS first two years?
Michelle would be the first to tell you they are owed all this. "W" went to his own ranch for heaven sakes.
ReplyDeleteBev, I thought Bush took 800 days in his first 100 days?
ReplyDeleteThey are really doing back flips to explain this at liberal sites, aren't they? And they haven't even laid it all out, they are just responding in the abstract.
When you list it all out like this, it gets kind of obscene. Seriously, three vacations in one month. . . several times? Only a handful of months with no vacation? More golf than Tiger Woods? He's no president, he's a vacationer in chief!
And what makes it worse, is that he keeps using the excuse "I don't have time" to explain why he isn't doing things like looking into BP or going to Arizona to meet with Brewer or . . . well, anything.
Jed, They are actually saying that all over the place. They're comparing how many days Bush took over his eight years against how many Obama took in his first year and saying "there's no comparison."
ReplyDeleteAnd that's not even to mention that Bush was one of our most lazy Presidents, and that his side blasted Bush for taking those vacations.
What really galls me here is that we are paying for all this expensive living. When they go stay at 5 star hotels and spend the week shopping, we pay for all of that, from security to airfare to lodging etc.
They truly are robbing the treasury like some South American dictator.
This is my first time visiting this blog and I LOVE this post. Thank you for speaking the truth!
ReplyDeleteThanks SLM! I'm glad you liked it. We do our best to point out the truth around here, good or bad. And thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeleteI can understand a few vacations, but this is ridiculous. He has spent more time vacationing than working.
Why do you call Michelle a Klingon? She doens't have a central ridge on her forehead.
Well, speaking for the Muppet-fan contingent of your blog (of which I'm SURE we are numerous!) we are highly offended at the idea of anyone wearing Muppet fur.
ReplyDeleteDon't make us come protest at your headquarters, waving Elmo in the air and chanting "Fur is for Muppets!"
And also? I'm honestly too shocked to comment on what you've compiled here. It's outrageous.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, maybe he knows that he'd better enjoy it while it lasts. Did I hear that his latest favorite phrase is, "What are they going do - fire me??"
Now, now Andrew. Haven't I told you that calling Michelle a Klingon is an insult to Klingons?
ReplyDeleteWe were planning to take the kids to Busch Gardens next month, but I'm not sure where we're going to get the money from. All I can say is . . . it must be nice. TJ
Joel, I agree, it's perfectly understandable for a President to take vacations or to take time off. It's a stressful job which (should) require a lot of careful thought, so I'd rather have a rested President than an erratic one.
ReplyDeleteBut this is ridiculous -- he's done nothing but vacation! And even when he's not on vacation, half his time is spent doing fund raising appearances or doing official dinners.
What's really amazing is to think that right now we have the worst economy since the 1930s, 20% unemployed or underemployed, 100,000 soldiers in the field, an ecological disaster in the Gulf. . . and he's out there vacationing like he's the worthless son of a rich 14th Century aristocrat.
Re the Klingon reference, that's just something a lot of people have said. No insult to the Klingon Empire is intended. ;-)
Crispy, Then you won't want to hear that Muppets are good eatin' too? ;-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, no offense intended to the Muppets or the Klingons. Man, I'm making everyone angry today! LOL!
I agree about the outrage. I wrote this article when I heard the other day that they were going to Spain, and I said: "didn't they just do a vacation?" So I looked it up. . . I was stunned. This is an outrage even if we weren't paying for it, but then, we are paying for it!
TJ, The current environment makes this all the worse. Right now, people are losing their jobs, getting their pay cut, losing their homes, losing their investment and retirements. . . and he's living it up on the taxes taken from those very people.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying there is ever a time for this incredible demonstration of laziness, opulence, and free-spending on the taxpayer's dime, but now is probably the worst time to be doing this.
I just hope someone in the MSM picks this up and puts all of this together. This is one of those stories people should know.
I loved this letter our local radio guy wrote to Dear Leader, begging him to do his job, but including an offer he might not refuse. He outlined some of the impacts illegal immigration has on those of us in border states, particularly places close to the southern border like Tucson. He said:
ReplyDelete"We are law abiding citizens and just want the federal government to do the job it is supposed to do: secure the border. We respectfully request that you come to Southern Arizona. We believe if you see first hand the impact illegal immigration has on our lives, community and land, you'll realize something needs to be done now. The time for talk is over and now is the time for action."
He concludes:
"We know you are a golf aficionado and Arizona boasts some of the best golf courses in the world. If visiting our border isn't reason enough to come here, we'd like to arrange a complimentary round of golf for you at one of southern Arizona's premiere resorts, courtesy of the radio station."
Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't take the station up on the offer. Then again, what does he need a free golf vacation for? He gets "free" golf vacations any time he wants.
Tam, Very true, what does he need "free golf" for when he gets taxpayer-funded golf already?
ReplyDeleteI like the letter and love the sort of dig at him. . . if you won't do your job, then come play golf and do your job as a side-effect!
I recall an interview with Jan Brewer when she went to Washington. She said that Obama kept saying he hadn't had a chance to look into the Arizona issue (this was when he and others were criticizing the law before they were forced to admit they hadn't read it) and that he promised someone would within two weeks -- which they didn't. And when she said that he should come to Arizona to look for himself. . . he said he was too busy. He then went on vacation.
The guy is an incredible slacker.
Oh my wallet! This guy is total BS. If this guy was running a business, he'd be fired.
ReplyDeleteEd, I would think so. Plus the shareholders would sue him for wasting corporate money.
ReplyDeleteI honestly did not expect to find this much when I started looking into this.
It pisses me off when he comes to NYC just so he can have dinner. Do you know what kind of trouble that causes up here? Who's paying for that? Who pays for all the overtime the cops put in? Who pays for the time I lose getting home from work? I do, that's who. He needs to stay home and do his job.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: Obama's a fighter, and don't forget, you have to fight for your right to party.
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind his vacations if he also wasn't presiding over the systematic destruction of the United States.
but his job is so stressful, probably because he's so bad at it. he needs the downtime. hata.
ReplyDeleteAnon, That's another part of the problem. In addition to everything else, i.e. the hotels, the flight costs, etc., you also have security, both local and secret service, and major inconvenience.
ReplyDeleteLawhawk, Uh huh.
ReplyDeleteJoel, You make a good point, but I still mind. I don't want to pay for his good time. In fact, this smacks of royalty to me, and that bothers me deeply.
ReplyDeletePatti, He's reached a point where he needs vacations from his vacation!
ReplyDeleteIt’s a tough business screwing America, Barry needs his down time.
ReplyDeleteWhat an asshole.
Stan, LOL! Well said my friend. . . well said!
ReplyDeleteThis guy has had more vacations in two years than I've had in my entire life!
ReplyDeleteMega, And he's cost the country more than you ever will.
ReplyDeletestan h: you gave me the lol! of the day. well done, sir.
ReplyDeleteand is it a coincidence my captcha to comment on your comment about obama being an asshole is: ashank?! i think not.
Patti, I believe in coincidence, but not that big of a coincidence! LOL!
ReplyDeleteWe elves would like to hold this up as a shining example for our future vacation-time negotiations, BossMan!
ReplyDeleteForget it elves. Nobody gets that kind of vacation. Besides, you get too much vacation time already.
ReplyDeleteNow Andrew
ReplyDeleteSure Obama is AWOL from the whitehouse but the real President, the Teleprompter in Cheif has been hard at work 24/7 putting things like havng the government take over 401K's on the federal register. Sure it will be voluntary at start.
I for one have no problem with the Obama's taking a vacation. In two more yeara I am hoping to give him a permanant vacation perhaps on Mars maybe........ how do the Martians feel about Klingons
Individualist, I'll be happy to give him a nice, long vacation in 2012 as well. In the meantime, I don't care about him going on vacation. . . I just don't want to pay for it anymore.
ReplyDeletegreat article!
ReplyDelete