I will reiterate, as I have done in several threads that condemn a President or his family for "living" their life while in office ... they can't help it if they have to have security everywhere they go and that it costs a mint ... this is the case with every President ... and I'm sure the security has been upped on our first African-American First Family ... so those are the breaks ... it's not great that this kind of money has to be spent ... but it is spent by every President and their family while they are in the White House ... they have to have security everywhere they go ... I have never seen a President and his family say they are going to give up living their lives while they are in the White House for 4 or 8 years.

Apr 28, 2012 -- 12:23PM, T15D23 wrote:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135914...

Apr 28, 2012 -- 12:48PM, craner7 wrote:

In moderation Mo and within reason, especially in very tough ecomomic times.

Vacation backlash: Blue collar Dems jealous, angry at Obamas

April 26, 2012 -- 12:39 PM

1263Comments

Blue collar workers are upset with the number of vacations the first family take. The Obamas are shown returning from their Christmas vacation in Hawaii in January. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing “staycations” because they can’t afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family’s 17 lavish vacations around the world and don’t want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas’ holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters.

“They view everything through their own personal situation and if they can’t afford to do it, they can’t enjoy it, they don’t like Obama using their tax dollars to benefit himself,” said pollster John McLaughlin. “In this case, they see him as out of touch. While they are struggling he’s not sharing in that struggle and he’s basically doing what they can’t do on their tax dollars,” added the GOP pollster.

He and several other top-tier Republican pollsters, organized by Resurgent Republic, traveled to 11 battleground states to host focus groups of independent and swing voters, mostly Democrats, who voted for President Obama in 2008 but who are now on the fence.

McLaughlin handled blue collar and Catholic voters in Pittsburgh on April 3 and Cleveland on March 20. He found that they are very depressed about the economy and feel that their tax dollars are being sucked up by both the rich and those living on government assistance.

During the focus group discussions about debt and spending cuts, many in his group volunteered criticism of the presidential vacations as something that should be cut. Among the lines McLaughlin wrote down was one from a Democratic woman who said, “Michelle Obama spends $1 million to take the kids to Hawaii,” and another who said, “President Obama was the only president to take so many trips.”

The theme, said McLaughlin, is that the first family “is out of touch” with working class voters.

He added that the president’s attack on the rich and GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney’s wealth is working, but the voters were also lumping in the president’s vacation spending with the General Services Administration’s Las Vegas scandal and federal spending for those who aren’t looking for work.

“There really wasn’t a real dislike for Romney. It was just that he is too rich. But on the other hand there is a start of resentment of the government,” he said. “What surprised me is that these were Democrats back biting on their own president,” added McLaughlin.

This was never discussed with other Presidents Craner ... I'm sorry, I don't buy this.

No question the Obama's have abused the taxpayer on their personal enjoyment like no other administration.

They have treated the taxpayers dollars like a lottery win.