Good Day Richard,

Wherein it is true that the job of a president is difficult and a break from it is good, except when the vice is also inept. There are few that would say that a family should not vacation. But, in 2010 - 2011, Ms. Obama did rack up quite a bill for herself and their children. Take for example:

GIRLS' TRIP TO SPAIN: AUGUST 2010
The exact cost is unclear as Mrs Obama and her 40 friends footed many personal expenses, such as hotels and meals themselves.

But the U.S. taxpayer would have paid for the First Lady's 68-strong security detail, personal staff, and use of presidential jet Air Force Two.

Per diems for the secret service team runs at around $281 each - nearly $98,000 for the length of the summer break.

Use of Air Force Two, the Air Force version of a 757, comes in at $149,900 for the round trip. This does not include time on the ground.

Mrs Obama's personal staff, of which there are an unknown amount and might cost considerably more per day, should also be taken into account.

CHRISTMAS BREAK IN HAWAII: DECEMBER 2010

According to the Hawaii Reporter, the bill for the $1.5m trip included:

$63,000 on an early flight bringing Mrs Obama and the children to Hawaii ahead of the President.
$1,000,000 on Mr Obama’s return trip from Washington on Air Force One.
$38,000 for the ‘Winter White House’ beach property rental.
$16,000 to rent nearby homes for Secret Service and Navy Seals.
$134,000 for 24 White House staff to stay at the Moana Hotel.
$251,000 in police overtime.
$10,000 for an ambulance to be on hand at all times

SKI TRIP TO VAIL: FEBRUARY 2011

Mrs Obama and her daughters stayed at the Sebastian hotel on Vail Mountain, where rooms cost more than $2,400 for multi-bedroom suites.

The family appear to have flown there on Air Force Two.

They were escorted to the resort by a motorcade of about a dozen vehicles, including 15 state and local law enforcement officers

SUMMER HOLIDAY ON MARTHA'S VINEYARD: AUGUST 2011

The Blue Heron Farm estate, where the Obama family are currently staying, rents for about $50,000 a week.

According to U.S. News and World Report, the Coast Guard is required to keep ships floating near the property, the presidential helicopter and jet remain at the ready and security agents will be on 24-hour duty.

Obama's vacation for 2012 cost the tax payers $20 Million
Obama and his family have spent quite some time on vacation: "Criticism of costly presidential trips hasn’t deterred Barack Obama from setting a pace to establish a new White House travel record, even as the sequester continues to impose across-the-board cuts in federal spending.

“If the president travels in his second term at the same pace he did throughout the first, he will have spent 190 days abroad during his time in the Oval Office,” a recent study by the National Taxpayers Union concluded. “That would put him behind only George W. Bush and Bill Clinton as the most-traveled two-term presidents.”

I will not bore you with more facts. But, should you care, just gooole Obama and vacations..... you will get an eye full.

Tell me, if he cares so much for people in poverty, then why not travel to his mother's house and send those millions to the poor? A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS can feed quite a few people. Or could go a distance in providing for our veterans.

Morning Ron, several points in this piece are out of line. Much of the cost for all government spending is only moving numbers from one account to another..The troops for instance, get paid weather they are flying the President or simply training..Weather the come up with figures for rescuing a lost hiker or delivering aid in time of disaster. They give figures which are not accurate...Bush was all for Obama playing golf, he stated his golf was great tension reducer, No president has ever enjoyed a true vacation, they are all working vacations and always will be..I see no problem with his vacations, every President, even Ike, has been roasted for vacations, that won`t stop either..