Travel Budget

 

 

"Please, sir, I want some more"

 

Oliver Twist

 

 

I read in the paper this morning two very interesting articles. The first had to do with many government bureaucrats having their travel budgets significantly cut (excuse me, I need to dry my eye). The second concerns (due to the dreaded sequester) funding for thousands of children being cut for the Head Start Program. The is bad - our country had absolutely no money to do anything anymore - that is unless you are the Commander in Chief.

 

Now that our President is back from yet another taxpayer funded vacation, he will again be target number one for government hypocrisy. I have no idea how much this one cost, but I bet it will be high. The vacation to Africa (a "busman's holiday" we were told by the MSM) cost a cool $100M. As many in lower levels of the government whine and fuss like babies, the head guy has no problem spending money like it grows on trees.

 

This is a perfect example of the Golden Rule of government - "those with the gold, rules". Meanwhile, the rest of us poor slobs sit on Terra Firma and watch the flying chariot (that be Air Force One) take the first family to parts unknown for another entitled vacation. Not only do we fly the First Lady and the two girls by themselves for an enrichment experience, we also fly the first dog "Bo" by himself.

This is when the MSM really misses President Bush. If he abused the office as much as the current occupant, they would have him tarred and feathered in the press every single day. However, with this Administration, they need to stay muzzled.

How bad is the abuse? Fox news reports the following on the cost of operating Air Force One:

The U.S. military has provided an updated estimate on that cost, first published by a taxpayer watchdog group and confirmed by FoxNews.com, and the number is staggering -- $181,757 per hour. That's the price tag for shuttling around President Obama, who, as it turns out, has spent more days abroad in his first two years than any other president.

No, President Bush had his faults, but blatant hypocrisy was not one of them. He took 50 vacations during his two terms - all to his ranch in Texas. Total cost to the tax payers was $20M. That is one fifth of the cost of President Obama's Africa boondoggle. Go figure. 

The next time someone tells you the government has no money to do anything, remind them of the growing expense of taking care of our "Royal Family". There must be a money tree on the White House grounds....