Why Obama Should Take More Vacation

Barack Hussein Obama is back from vacation, rested, recharged, and bristling with new schemes for spending billions of dollars of other people’s money.

While the President was getting rained on in Martha’s Vineyard this summer, his opponents predictably berated him and his family for their callousness in seeking leisure at a time when so many Americans were suffering economic hardship. The President’s supporters, in contrast, pointed out how hard the Chief Executive worked, how deserving he was of some down time, and how many more vacation days were taken by his predecessor. This back and forth is as old as the Republic. No doubt when Thomas Jefferson slipped out of Washington for a weekend at Monticello, the remnants of the Federalist press worked overtime to churn out editorials complaining of the third President’s insensitivity in tending to his wine cellar at a time when there was so much land in Louisiana that needed purchasing. They probably also made unfavorable comparisons to the sober work habits of his predecessor, Mr. Adams.

The tradition continues with Mr. Obama. The President’s critics have published numerous editorials and blogs complaining of the cost of his various trips to Hawaii, Chicago, Maine, and Martha’s Vineyard – and of Michelle’s trip to Spain with forty of her closest friends and seventy Secret Service Agents. Estimates varied from $24,000 to $75,000 per day, mostly for Secret Service protection and jet fuel.

When conservatives complained of the cost of the 65 or so days the President went on vacation, they overlooked the cost of the 500 or so days the President was at his desk. In that time he signed a health care bill, a stimulus package, and the odd jobs bill, with a combined price tag of 2 trillion dollars. Do the math and you’ll find that every day the President worked cost the taxpayers $4 billion. Clearly, we cannot afford for this President not to be on vacation. If only he continued to vacation at the same rate for the remaining two and half years off his term, he could save the taxpayers $430 billion.

He could increase that savings dramatically by vacationing at an accelerated rate. In fact, if he took off every day for the next two and a half years, he could save a gargantuan $3.6 trillion.

Of course, Martha’s Vineyard might seem a bit dull after a year or so. I thought I’d help the President out by thinking up other places he could spend his time. Here are some suggestions:

Kentucky Truck Plant, Ford Motor Company, Louisville Kentucky – There’s a certain satisfaction in making something. After all the welding, hammering, or baking it is thrilling to see the finished truck, house, or pie in front of you. Unfortunately this is a thrill Mr. Obama has not known since his teenage years when he made ice cream cones at Baskin Robbins. Perhaps that’s why his policies have so little in them for working people. As President, he has briefly used factories as backdrops for photo ops; he could benefit from spending some extended time at one. He would learn not only the pleasure in producing something, but also how taxes and regulation make production so much harder. The Kentucky Truck Plant builds big vehicles: Super Duty pick-ups, Ford Expeditions, Lincoln Navigators. Its workers would be among the hardest hit if Mr. Obama’s cap and tax proposal ever becomes law. Mr. Obama should learn first-hand the potential of his proposals to shatter the dreams of hard-working Americans.

Western Negev, Israel – During last week’s Rosh Hashanah holiday, one of the most sacred days in the Jewish calendar, Gaza-based Palestinians continued their Kassam rocket attacks against Southern Israel. There have been thousands of such attacks since they began in 2001. While running for President, Mr. Obama said, "If somebody was sending rockets into my house, where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that, and I would expect Israelis to do the same thing." However since moving into the White House, he has been lukewarm in his support for the Jewish state. Mr. Obama should learn first hand the hardships of life in the desert and who America’s real friends are in the Middle East.

The Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics, University of Chicago – Mr. Obama spent 12 years as a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. But apparently he never ventured across the Midway to the Economics Department; his ignorance of the dismal science is appalling. When Mr. Obama proposed his $800 billion stimulus bill last year, over 200 economists, including five from Chicago, signed a statement saying they “do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance.” Mr. Obama went ahead with more government spending anyway. And what happened? Economic performance did not improve. Mr. Obama concluded from this experience that we need more “stimulus”. At his Labor Day speech in Cleveland he proposed $50 billion in additional government spending. Clearly he could benefit from some remedial education about the ins and outs of markets. The Milton Friedman Institute is just the place for it. An upcoming conference on the “the costs and consequences of providing publicly funded health care” should be of particular interest to the President.

Permanent vacation will given President Obama the opportunity to broaden his education while the taxpayers get to hold on to what’s left of their wallets. Clearly a win-win situation.