IS PRESIDENT OBAMA VACATIONING TOO MUCH?
According to a growing number of Americans, yes he is. The perception of perpetual vacations comes just as the First Family settled into several days of sun and fun recently on Martha’s Vineyard. The New England trip follows a weekend visit and swim by the Obama’s in the Gulf of Mexico, and a recent and controversial trip by Mrs. Obama to Spain.
No president is ever truly on vacation, since he is president all the time and therefore always working and being briefed on domestic and global matters regardless of his location. But the amount of vacations by Mr. Obama has almost been lost in the symbolism of the First Family vacationing on the ritzy, upscale island of Martha’s Vineyard, while renting a fancy and expensive house during times of economic distress.
White House spokesman Bill Burton dismissed claims that the president is vacationing too much by pointing out the vacation schedule of his predecessors (at this same point in the presidency, Mr. Obama has vacationed 70 days, while George W. Bush had vacationed 225 days). He also addressed the choice of vacation spots by saying, “I don’t think there’s an American person who doesn’t know that the president is working hard to do everything possible to get this economy back on the right track, to move initiatives through Congress that are going to help businesses right away to create jobs and to make our economy even stronger.”
