Hmmmm......

[candlelight]

I love you, too, trc... as a brother in Christ. LuAnne and I are right on the money about this one. No pun intended... lol Well, LuAnne, MOSTLY (haha) because she knows government better than anyone on this board other than John, Jerry #'s, and CowboyPreacher. Maybe... other people do, but these are the people that vocalize what is factual not fictional. I don't get anything out of 'thin air' either.

Anyhow, I really have never seen a POTUS do this much traveling abroad for personal reason before. Yes - I understand that Sasha and Malia are on Summer Vacation, but this money should be coming out of President Obama's own pocket - not ours. KWIM? This is getting outrageous. Spend, spend, and more spending. It has to stop. Unless, he starts using his private money and stop making excuses using governmental money - I don't have a problem at all. Otherwise, I really can see the USA being a 'Third World' country in 10 years - top.

I am perfecty happy to go on one, two, or three day cabin trips. That is not the problem with me or my family. That is actually Joe's idea for a vacation, anyway. And, as his wife... I say that he needs these occasional breaks from his 'high-stressed' job. Don't we all? This has nothing to do with jealousy on my part... believe me. I am more of a home-body these days, anyway. Being a World-Wide missionary... pfff. That is only a 'Pipedream' of mine. I am a missionary here in Cleveland, OH. What all of this has to do with... is the numerous mounds of money that is lavishly spent on personal trips in our government. Remember, Nancy Pelosi, her hubby and the whole crew that she took to Italy to find her grandparents grave. Well... that whole excursion cost us (the USA taxpayers) plenty. The plane trip, alone was a couple hundred thousand dollars. And, that was just the plane fair. I do not condone our government spending money on things for themselves like this. Even the Clintons did not go this overboard. Do you see what I mean?

God bless trc,

Molly

P.S. ~ TGIF, too!

[HappyChristian]

Frequent Flier Obama Not Accomplishing Much

Thursday, July 16, 2009 6:05 PM

By: Andrea Tantaros Article Font Size




Since taking office, President Obama has racked up more miles to his name than most astronauts. According to Fox News, "in his first six months in office, President Obama has traveled abroad the equivalent of twice around the world."


It's no surprise that the unseasoned and untested Frequent-Flier-In-Chief needs to get some ink in his passport, but the real question is, besides helping Obama brush up on his romance languages, what has he really accomplished overseas? The answer: not much.


At each summit, foreign leaders have been more interested in getting Obama's autograph than his thoughts on missile defense. When he's asked for cooperation from more troops in Afghanistan to help with Guantanamo detainees to climate change concessions, each time he's been rudely rebuffed. His speech in Cairo, intended to chart a new beginning, fell flat thanks to his amorphous, vague platitudes and pandering. The only thing that matters to Arab countries is how he handles the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Obama, unsurprisingly, said nothing new.


For the full text go here now.

http://www.newsmax.com/andrea_tantaros/Obama_travel_Cairo/2009/07/16/236658.html

[trc123]

And here I thought each of his trips he had extensive foreign relations or economic policy meetings with other heads of state......foolish me.............

[no name joe]

To my knowledge, the Pres. travels to other countries have all involved meetings, diplomatic efforts, etc. It take a lot to rebuild respect for the US around the world after it has previoiusly been torn down by going about things without allies and consensus.

I honestly do not care if his wife and children travel with him. It is not costing much, if anything extra. It is not like they have to buy extra plane tickets. They have Air Force One.

I guarantee you the amount spent on travel is pennies compared to the rest of the federal budget. This really does seem to be nit picking.

[HappyChristian]

Okay, so let's just sit back and let him go. I happen to think it's an irresponsible use of taxpayer money. But, oh well. That's nitpicking. Sorry if I offended anyone. Go, BO, go.

[no name joe]

Okay, so let's just sit back and let him go. I happen to think it's an irresponsible use of taxpayer money. But, oh well. That's nitpicking. Sorry if I offended anyone. Go, BO, go.

It reminds me of the media uproar over Sarah Palin buying new clothes for the campaign trail. In politics, image is everything, and I don't begrudge her at all for buying the new clothing for the campaign. Is it excessive? Probably so, but that is the nature of our political system.

I do not see how flying oversees for our leader to meet with the leaders of other countries is wasteful. How is that wasteful and irresponsible? They fly over here to meet with the Pres., so should we not send our Pres over there to meet with them? And as I mentioned, I bet it costs very little extra to take his family along. It seems to me having his family along may help keep him from temptation, as temptations are always there, especially for people in high power positions.

[HappyChristian]

It's a waste and it's irresponsible because he is not helping America at all.

When it comes to dealing with the most rogue of leaders, he's been bullied. Chavez purposely bum-rushed him with an insulting piece of propaganda for a photo-op. Putin gave a cavalier speech on the Cold War, forcing Obama to once again make concessions when he should have defended, not only the West, but also an accurate portrait of history. But when he sat across from our friend, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, he couldn't even give the man eye contact.

He's even embarrassed the US by dropping the ball when it comes to proper protocol. He gifted Britain

[no name joe]

This is not about him, or any particular political leader. I see this discussion of the necessity for taxpayers to fund the President to travel to other countries to meet with other foriegn leaders on important matters.

It seems to me that some peoples dislike of him lead them to criticize every little thing, and it moves away form a policy discussion to merely disliking the person.

Every modern president has travelled abroad. I don't see how that is wasteful when we need to build an international alliance to deal with terrorism, global poverty, oil interests, etc. Like it or not we live in a global society and travel, summits, conferences, meetings, etc. are very necessary, for Obama, as it was for Bush, and any other President.

I'm not supporting or defending Obama here, I'm just saying travel is necessary. He has Air Force One, and allowing his family to come along is fine. It costs very little extra, and may even save money because Secret Service to protect his family is not needed at home.

[HappyChristian]

I don't dislike BO - I dislike what he's doing to this country. Mayhap if I met him I'd like him. I don't know about that for sure, because we never know if we like someone or not just from the personna they give off.

I also don't have a problem with the POTUS travelling - if it's necessary and helpful. His jaunts have not been helpful. They have further humiliated the US in the eyes of those abroad. Reception to his speeches and his rhetoric proves this.

Also - he has been in office for just a bit over 6 months. Do you realize that in that time, he has traveled enough mileage to go around the world twice? And what has he accomplished? Nothing. I would say that's wasteful.

Perhaps what he ought to do is stay home for a while and take a hard look at what he is ordering congress to do (*sigh* ordering...just what the Constitution tells us the POTUS has power to do, right? wrong) to this country.

(this sure has gotten away from the OP, hasn't it? =D

[Colin Stolzer]

I'll try to bring this back around to the OP for you. Has anyone considered what kind of precedent this sets for the Military. Now I know that Major Cook was motivated by politics to try this route to get the Presidents records released, but the fact is now anybody in the Military who doesn't want to deploy can make the same case under the UMCJ. This is one of the great things about the UMCJ, it's not a respecter of ranks, it doesn't matter whether you are an e-1 or an o-8 the UCMJ applies the same. So the next private that decides he doesn't want to go to the middle east can now ask the chain of command to show proof that President Obama is properly qualified to hold the office of President/CoC, and if the Military Chain of Command can't show proof they can't force anyone to go. This could be a huge blow to the war efforts, depending on how many of our young people decide they didn't join the military to get shot at. And that is a reality of the military now days, I've met more than a few that have told me they only joined for the College or for the job training, not because they wanted to serve.

C