At a similar point in his presidency, George W. Bush had already taken 250 vacation days (compared to Obama's 84...)
Just this last Hawaiian vacation cost the taxpayers 4 million before he decided to fly back to do nothing for fiscal cliff negotiations and added another 3 million.
Aww, shucks....if only those ornery Republicans in the House of Representatives had passed that bill raising taxes on people with million dollar incomes instead of being forced into a compromise at the 11th hour that raised taxes on people with incomes of $450K and up...
If they hadn't have hemmed and hawed, we could have saved the $3 million for that second flight back to Washington....
And the House Republicans would have saved big bucks for some of their fat cat friends, far more than $3 million, I'm sure...
Oh, well, it was all for the best, after all.
Thanks, recalcitrant Republicans. You did our country a favor.
The "fiscal cliff" came about because it took so long for the 2010 Congress to address the debt ceiling, and they finally agreed to a temporary fix instead of permanent spending cuts AND revenue increases--but it contained a kicker--"Act like grownups, or there will be automatic spending cuts" on January 1, 2013. That, combined with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts on everyone, was expected to throw the country back into recession.
And still they didn't act like grownups.
Because they were so afraid of the big, bad Grover Norquist, they had to delay a real vote until the Bush tax cuts did expire, so that THEY weren't raising taxes on the rich (don't hear Grover Norquist shedding any tears over the end of the temporary payroll tax cut--which affected everyone).
And now Grover Norquist is threatening every Republican who voted yes on the fiscal cliff bill with a primary challenge. I pray that those Republicans who voted like patriots will be affirmed in their primaries--but if they're replaced by some ideologues, we'll have a Democratic Congress for sure in 2014.
Whenever im at OBOB, I become convinced your country is going to expire in the next 100 years.
Whenever im at OBOB, I become convinced your country is going to expire in the next 100 years.
A) Can I crash on your couch for a while? Got room for my wife and gaggle of children too?
B) Please don't let yourself be convinced that WA, AMDG or Fantine are typical Americans or that their method of processing "facts" is typical of Americans.
Truth.
Heard Obama throws tantrums when he isnt getting his way.
Um - let me think really freaking hard here - who else threw tantrums?
Name begins with H ends with R.
But shhhhh cant be comparing apples to apples.