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WASHINGTON — As the U.S. economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sunsplashed Spanish resort this week may be sending a different message.
First lady Michelle Obama is on a five-day trip to a luxury resort along with a handful of friends, her younger daughter, Sasha, aides and Secret Service personnel. Her office said the first family will pay for personal expenses, but declined to reveal the taxpayer cost for the government employees. The president stayed home in the United States, as did daughter Malia, 12, who is at camp.
snip
The opulence of the European trip also has drawn scrutiny. Michelle Obama is staying at the Hotel Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton resort in the mountains outside Marbella. The resort has two golf courses, a posh spa with Turkish baths, views of the Mediterranean Sea and a high-end restaurant specializing in avant-garde fare. Room rates start at $400 and rise to $6,500 for a two-bedroom villa with a private pool and 24-hour butler service.
snip
While her friends arrived in Spain on their own, Michelle Obama flew in on a type of aircraft also used by Vice President Joseph Biden. It costs the government $11,555 an hour to operate the plane, according to the Air Force. Assuming a nearly eight-hour flight to nearby Málaga, the total round-trip cost of the flight is about $178,000.
The Obama family will reimburse the government an amount equal to two first-class tickets — for mother and daughter Sasha, Air Force officials said. A round-trip first-class flight to Málaga costs about $7,400 apiece, without discounts or restrictions.
Nation & World | Lavish Obama vacation in time of economic turmoil raises eyebrows | Seattle Times Newspaper
We really have turned the Presidency into royalty.
Oh, for the days of a leader like Bush who cared so much that literally 3 years of his presidency were spent on vacation.
487 Days At Camp David For Bush - Political Hotsheet - CBS News
Presidents take vacations. They also spend a lot of their vacation time working. Get over it.
This isn't about Bush. For God's sake STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM. He's not the damn president FOR OVER A YEAR! This is Barack Hussein Obama's mess. His wife takes a $400,000 vacation meeting with kings and movin' on up. He's been on vacation since he bought the election. We're ALL tired of them! We want them OUT of the White House!
The reason sometimes Bush is brought up, is because of the hypocrisy, some people vilify Obama for doing certain things that they said nothing about when Bush was in office.
What does it matter to you what the Obamas do in their own time with their own money minus security costs of course.
I thought the number was 250 000? Someone wanna get that story straight?
Meeting the king and queen of nations is always gonna happen, guess you don't like improving relations with allies?
like Bush's lavish vacations were not on Uncle Sam's dime.
Damn Liberals can't do nothing right!
This isn't about Bush. For God's sake STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM. He's not the damn president FOR OVER A YEAR! This is Barack Hussein Obama's mess. His wife takes a $400,000 vacation meeting with kings and movin' on up. He's been on vacation since he bought the election. We're ALL tired of them! We want them OUT of the White House!
It's brought up because none of you bitched about these things when Bush was in office. You only bitch about them now that Obama is in office. How did so many of the exact same things become so offensive so suddenly to you?
The reason why all of your crap seems so disingenuous is because you all came crawling out of the woodwork right after the election in 2008 instead of rallying against the opulent, deficit-creating spending between 2000 and 2006.
I've literally heard people claim that TARP was Obama's bill (it wasn't). I've heard people claim that the Great Recession started under Obama (it didn't). I've heard people claim a ****-ton of things that are patently false now that Obama is in office. I've also heard people bitch about things that they used to defend when Bush did them.
It's called hypocrisy.
You're fine with two unfunded, unfinished wars that cost more than $1 trillion (before interest, mind you). But pissed off about a $250,000 vacation. It makes no sense.
Were you this pissed off when Bush took vacations - more than any other president in history? If not, why? Why were you not out there bitching about it then?
I'm pointing it out, honestly, because I'm trying to figure out why you hate this president so much but tolerated all the qualities you seem to dislike in him when they were exhibited by his predecessor?
It's brought up because none of you bitched about these things when Bush was in office. You only bitch about them now that Obama is in office. How did so many of the exact same things become so offensive so suddenly to you?
The reason why all of your crap seems so disingenuous is because you all came crawling out of the woodwork right after the election in 2008 instead of rallying against the opulent, deficit-creating spending between 2000 and 2006.
I've literally heard people claim that TARP was Obama's bill (it wasn't). I've heard people claim that the Great Recession started under Obama (it didn't). I've heard people claim a ****-ton of things that are patently false now that Obama is in office. I've also heard people bitch about things that they used to defend when Bush did them.
It's called hypocrisy.
You're fine with two unfunded, unfinished wars that cost more than $1 trillion (before interest, mind you). But pissed off about a $250,000 vacation. It makes no sense.
Were you this pissed off when Bush took vacations - more than any other president in history? If not, why? Why were you not out there bitching about it then?
I'm pointing it out, honestly, because I'm trying to figure out why you hate this president so much but tolerated all the qualities you seem to dislike in him when they were exhibited by his predecessor?
It's brought up because none of you bitched about these things when Bush was in office. You only bitch about them now that Obama is in office. How did so many of the exact same things become so offensive so suddenly to you?
The reason why all of your crap seems so disingenuous is because you all came crawling out of the woodwork right after the election in 2008 instead of rallying against the opulent, deficit-creating spending between 2000 and 2006.
I've literally heard people claim that TARP was Obama's bill (it wasn't). I've heard people claim that the Great Recession started under Obama (it didn't). I've heard people claim a ****-ton of things that are patently false now that Obama is in office. I've also heard people bitch about things that they used to defend when Bush did them.
It's called hypocrisy.
You're fine with two unfunded, unfinished wars that cost more than $1 trillion (before interest, mind you). But pissed off about a $250,000 vacation. It makes no sense.
Were you this pissed off when Bush took vacations - more than any other president in history? If not, why? Why were you not out there bitching about it then?
I'm pointing it out, honestly, because I'm trying to figure out why you hate this president so much but tolerated all the qualities you seem to dislike in him when they were exhibited by his predecessor?
Executive travel is a yearly budgeted item and has been for many decades.
Nonsense. I bitched about Laura Bush EACH AND EVERY TIME she went on five-day trips to luxury resorts in Europe with her friends.It's brought up because none of you bitched about these things when Bush was in office. You only bitch about them now that Obama is in office. How did so many of the exact same things become so offensive so suddenly to you?
Nonsense...Now we are supposed to believe that liberals all of the sudden are never hypocrites when it comes to politics? :roll:
j-mac
I can't believe Republicans have sunk so low that they criticize Obama's wife for taking a vacation and for having the government pay. If you think this vacation has any affect on this country fiscally you are just plain stupid.
Yes, that is low...I mean my God! This lady just got back from back to back vacations in Martha's vineyard, and the Gulf coast, and in between she had to fly back to the WH to hear a song sung to her by Paul McCartney, and Stevie Wonder, then without rest there were probably some NYC dinner dates with Barry, or some shopping for Arugula in the streets of DC she had to endure....Goodness, how does she do it....Heck, I'd need 40 of my closest friends and rooms with views of the Sea, and Turkish baths to unwind from all that work.....pfft.
j-mac
Again it's sad that you care that a woman goes on vacation.
when it comes to Conservatives, Obama can't do anything right and never will do anything right. I think it has something to do with the color of his skin.
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