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Obama family splurges: multiple taxpayer millions on multiple vacations
Thanks to a partial tally from MrConservative.com:
Spain 2010 (Total: At least $250,000):
- U.S. taxpayer paid for the First Lady’s 68 person personal security army, assistants, and of course why not use presidential mumbo jet Air Force Two.
- Air Force Two was a modest $150,000 for the trip.
- Personal security runs at $281 per day – totaling $100,000 for the vacation.
Christmas in Hawaii 2010 (Total: Over $1,500,000.00):
- $63,000 to fly in Michelle and the kids on a private jet.
- $1,000,000 for Obama to come in on Air Force One.
- $38,000 rent payed for the luxury ‘Winter White House’.
- $16,000 to provide housing for local security including Seals & Secret Service.
- $134,000 to keep staff in the local luxury hotel. Spare no expense on your staff…
- $251,000 paid out to police for staying overtime.
- $10,000 so that an ambulance could park outside at all times. Why not?
Vail Ski Trip 2011 (At least $150,000):
- Michelle and the kids stayed in a room which costs more than $2,400 per night.
- Michelle & kids fly in on Air Force Two (add a couple hundred thousand).
Martha’s Vineyard 2011 (At least $50,000/week):
- The Obama’s decided that a modest hotel room that costs $2,400 wasn’t quite nice enough. This time they decided to stay at the “Blue Heron Farm estate” which goes for $50,000 per week.
Of course, these are only a tiny few of the vacations the Obama family has taken while Barack Obama has been in office. Examiner.com reports the number of Obama vacations at 16. While former presidents have actually taken more days, what is notable here is the indulgent nature of the Obama trips:
According to presidential watcher Mark Knoller of CBS, George W. Bush, at this time of his presidency, had made 30 visits to his Texas ranch spanning all or part of 220 days. The Obama’s vacation day count is less than half of that.
But his have become more controversial because of the costs associated with moving the first family to a public vacation spot, unlike the Bushes to their remote ranch in Crawford, Texas. For example, the Hawaii Reporter said the first family’s 2011 Christmas vacation in Hawaii would exceed $1.5 million.