Letter to the editor: ‘How many countries will the Obamas visit this year?’

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To the editor:

Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird, it’s a plane … no, it’s a fleet of Air Force transports and two 747s en route to Hawaii. This entire monumental movement of planes, armored cars, security and communications personnel, secretaries, chauffeurs, cooks, maids, media personnel were all on their way to Hawaii to support the seventh annual $50 million taxpayer-funded Hawaii vacation for the Obamas. …

Estimates are that Air Force One costs about $206,000 per hour to operate, and that is just for the fuel. For what it costs taxpayers to ferry the POTUS, his wife and the kiddies to Hawaii, we could build four new high schools in the Olentangy School District with money left over. Oh yeah, add in transporting three Marine One helicopters, two separate motorcades and extra security because, as we all know, Hawaii is a dangerous, hazardous place to visit.

Millions of dollars of taxpayer money spent on one family for two weeks in Hawaii for seven straight years and we are $18 trillion in debt. … The president’s love for Air Force One has been on display since 2009 when he gleefully hopped aboard the snazziest of all 747s in the world for an extremely long 156-mile jaunt to a Democratic Party function in Virginia. He couldn’t contain its awesomeness as he swooned: “Thanks for giving me a reason to use Air Force One. It’s pretty nice.” There is almost a youthful naiveté that makes it OK when this president enjoys his executive toys.

The bigger grievance I have is how or when did we get to the place where our presidents do not live on a budget? How many golf outings, vacations or trips to California to be on “Ellen” or Jimmy Kimmel do we have to pay for? Is the White House not good enough to stay in over the holidays? Is the Army Navy or Andrews Air Force golf courses not good enough to play golf on? Is Camp David not good enough to spend the weekends at? Am I missing something here? When Harry Truman left the White House for the final time, he walked to the car, got in and Bess drove them to Missouri. … How did we get to this point in our history?

Now we are in the final year of our long national nightmare. How many countries will the Obamas visit this year just because they can? How many trips will the taxpayers have to fork over hundreds of millions of dollars so the Royals can enjoy themselves again and again? When will we demand Congress pass a bill that limits presidential junkets, vacations, golf outings and trips to LA to be on left-wing, progressive TV? …

Since when is a president or any elected official entitled to use taxpayer assets to campaign for election or re-election? When a president travels to campaign for a candidate or attend his party functions, why do we not demand he use his own dime or the party’s, not ours? Trust me, both political parties are guilty. It does not matter which party is in office; they use and abuse the funds we, the taxpayers, provide for them without shame, and it’s only getting worse. Until we demand change, demand that politicians use their own money to vacation or run for re-election, it will not change. …

Christopher Acker

Delaware

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