Michelle Obama Spent 42 Days on Vacation this Past Year

First Lady Michelle Obama over the last year has spent a total of 42 days on vacation, or a little more than one out of every nine days, according to a White House Dossier analysis of her travel.

Her vacations, the cost of which are mostly borne by taxpayers, include trips to Panama City, Fla., Martha’s Vineyard, Hawaii, South Africa, Latin America, Vail, Colo., and her visit this week to her brother in Corvallis, Ore.

The total does not include a nine day sojourn in Martha’s Vineyard that the Obamas will enjoy this month. Nor does it include a trip she made to Ireland and Great Britain in May, which I’m counting as official travel.

The total vacation time would have been slightly higher had the Obamas gone as planned for an April weekend in Williamsburg, Va. The trip was cancelled due to an extended stalemate between President Obama and Congress over the budget.

Mrs. Obama’s extensive vacation travel comes while many America citizens find themselves out of work or having trouble making ends meet as the economic recovery stalls.

Taxpayers pick up most of the cost of transporting the first lady and her extensive entourage – including Secret Service and her staff – to her various destinations. While she may in some cases pay some of the tab for her personal expenses and travel, the amount is dwarfed by the overall cost to the public.

On trips she makes with the president, though, the costs are only somewhat greater that then they would have been had he travelled alone.

Mrs. Obama’s vacations began in August 2010 with a two day weekend trip to Panama City, Fla., where the Obamas stayed overnight at a Gulf of Mexico hotel in a symbolic effort to show that the Gulf area was safe for travel in the wake of the disastrous BP oil spill.

Next up was what has become an annual pilgrimage to ritzy Martha’s Vineyard, where the Obamas stayed 10 days and dined at several exorbitantly priced restaurants.

In December 2010, with President Obama delayed because Congress was still in town, Mrs. Obama decided to leave without him for their annual Hawaiian vacation, racking up at least $63,000 in additional costs because she travelled alone.

Since the president arrived late, he decided to leave Hawaii in January two days later than scheduled – resulting in a 17 day vacation for the first lady.

Mrs. Obama went right back out on vacation the following month, taking a four day skiing trip in February of this year to Vail, Colo.

In March, Mrs. Obama travelled to Latin America for a five day trip. I’m counting two days of this as vacation, though, because she took her children and her mother along, performed some sightseeing, and went to the beach.

The first lady went to southern Africa in June for six days in what was partially an official visit. Since Mrs. Obama took her mother, her children and their cousins along, since the trip was billed in advance as having personal significance for her, and since the travel included several tourist destinations and a safari, I’m counting half of the journey as vacation, or three days.

Finally, Mrs, Obama took her mother and one of her children to visit her brother in Corvallis, Ore. this week. The trip was not announced by the White House and appears to have lasted four days.

What “Vacation”?
She has NO JOB!

She was not elected to ANYTHING, she holds NO office!

She is nothing more than another unemployed “Black” occupant of government housing.

Her pronouncements mean NOTHING, she has no power of office whatsoever.
The media should just ignore her, completely.

If she uses her own money she can be “On vacation” EVERY day, if she’s using our money, it needs to be paid back, NOW, and her access to our money cut off ASAP.

Politico: High Turnover on Michelle Obama’s Staff Due to Operation’s ‘Polish and Discipline’
May 27, 2011
By Lonely Conservative 3 comments
First Lady Michelle Obama’s East Wing staff has an unusually high turnover rate. It took former First Lady Laura Bush six years to achieve the staff turnover Michelle Obama has reached in two years. I don’t know much about the public sector - I only lasted there four weeks -but in the private sector, high turnover rates are normally due to the management style of the folks at the top. But according to Politico, it’s just due to the operation being “polished and disciplined.” Oh, and her skin color.

The turnover, greater than under recent first ladies, underscores the pressure and high expectations of working in an operation known for its polish and discipline. A crucial political asset to her husband and his administration, Obama has enjoyed consistently high job approval ratings because of charm, activism — and by avoiding mistakes and controversy.

“She is, if possible, under more scrutiny than even other modern first ladies, being the first African-American first lady,” said Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who specializes in first ladies. “She also represents a new generation, really the first post-boomer generation of first lady.”

You have to go to the second and third pages before realizing there may be some sort of personality problem going on.

Pressure on the first lady can trickle down to the staff level, exacerbating internal tensions among aides and occasional conflict with the West Wing, sources said. “For whatever reason,” said one source familiar with the office, the first lady’s staff just hasn’t “gelled.”

“You don’t take these sorts of jobs unless you love the principal [figure],” the source said. “And you can deal with a principal who has high expectations when you’re all gelling as a group, but that just wasn’t happening.”

Still, pretty mild. Maybe they’re afraid they’ll wind up on the enemies list. Then again, it could just be that the First Lady’s lavish travel and party schedule is wearing them out.

Jonathan Block, former deputy press secretary for Laura Bush, said: “The first lady’s staff of roughly 25 is responsible for coordinating all her travel, as well as for executing hundreds of flawless White House events annually. It is perfectly natural that after a year or two of service, many staffers choose to pursue another opportunity in government, or a position with a better work-life balance.”

Or maybe it’s just hard to work for someone who pretends to be on the side of the “little guy” while wearing $2000 dresses or $540 sneakers. Me, I bought a new pair of Keds a few weeks ago and felt guilty because they cost almost $30 after the sales tax. I’d probably feel the same way even if I was a millionaire. If that were the case, I’d still buy the Keds and maybe give the other$500 to my favorite charity. But hey, that’s just me.

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