The Country Gets Lei’d for Christmas

The President of the United States is more than just the head of the Executive Branch, the Commander-in-Chief, and the most powerful individual in the world. He’s also a figurehead – someone who is supposed to lead by example. Presidents are usually mindful of appearances, and of the needs of their staff. For instance most Presidents have traditionally either spent the Christmas Holidays at the White House or at Camp David. They do this because, while a President can pretty much do whatever they want (at the taxpayer expense), they are mindful of appearances. The idea of a President not jet-setting off to some exotic, expensive locale for the Christmas holidays somehow makes them seem more human, more “of the people.” So with that in mind, let’s take a look at recent Presidents and where they’ve spent their holidays:

Of course, when you stay close to home (‘home’ in this case being Washington, D.C. – Camp David is 56 miles away from the White House) all your staff gets to spend Christmas with THEIR families. When you travel away from the White House or Camp David, you have to add the expense of Presidential Security, as well as flying your staff along with you.

To put this in perspective, in 2009, Obama spent $12,000 per day on his Hawaiian vacation. In 2010, it cost an extra $63,000, because Michelle, their two daughters and family dog flew out on a separate flight a day or so earlier (at taxpayer expense). In 2011, the Obama’s Hawaiian vacation price jumped up to $117,000 per day.

Want a little more perspective? From the days of George Washington himself through George W. Bush, all 43 Presidents added a combined $6.3 Trillion dollars of debt to the USA. In three years, Obama has added $6.5 Trillion dollars of debt to that figure. In other words, Obama has added more money to the national debt than the TOTAL of all Presidents before him.

And you ask why I’m voting for Anybody BUT Obama in November.