You'd never know the U.S. was a debt-ridden country by the lavish, prodigal way the Obama family spends taxpayer's money. The Presidential family is traveling to Hawaii for Christmas vacation. Consider the cost (Mark Steyn's research):
The cost to taxpayers of flying one man, his wife, two daughters, and a dog to Hawaii is estimated at $3,639,622. For purposes of comparison, the total bill for flying the entire royal family (Queen, princes, dukes, the works) around the world for a year is £4.7 million — or about enough for two Obama vacations.
Ah yes. But Obama is Obama, the most important man in the world as he no doubt self-meditates, and thus finds it easy to dismiss any slight qualm of conscience that could conceivably disturb his repose. "I'm worth every penny," he no doubt assures himself. Still, it's worth taking a look at comparative airplane costs.
According to the USAF, in 2010 Air Force One cost American taxpayers $181,757 per flight hour. According to the Royal Canadian Air Force, in 2011 the CC-150 Polaris military transport that flew William and Kate from Vancouver to Los Angeles cost Her Majesty’s Canadian subjects $15,505 per hour — or about 8/100ths of the cost.
British and Canadian citizens scrutinize money spent on the royals, not so Americans the money spent on (and by) Obama:
Obama flew Air Force One from Washington to Williamsburg, Va., requiring a wide-bodied transatlantic jet that holds 500 people to ferry him a distance of a little over 100 miles. And, unlike their British and Canadian counterparts, the American media are entirely at ease with it.
Maybe we should stop being "at ease with it." Is it too much to expect a modicum of frugality from the President? He makes present-day monarchs look like pikers. Consider:
In his recent book "Presidential Perks Gone Royal", Robert
Keith Gray, a former Eisenhower staffer, revealed that last year the
U.S. presidency cost American taxpayers $1.4 billion. Over the same
period, the entire royal family cost British taxpayers about $57
million. There’s nothing “royal” about the current level of
“presidential perks”: The Obama family costs taxpayers more than every
European royal house put together. [more . . .]
Ichabod. It's unseemly for the man who preaches "fair share" and "equality" to everyone else, to flaunt his own lavish, personal extravagance. The man who fails to recognize the "exceptional" quality of America as a nation, readily embraces the "exceptional" quality of himself and his family.