Presidential Travel Costing More Than Taxpayers Hoped For


According to Forbes, the average vacation expense in the U.S. is $1,145 per person, or $4,580 for a family of four. Pretty reasonable, as 37% of all families believe that vacations are the activity that makes families the happiest.

Some vacations, on the other hand, can cost much more than this average; that can cause people to get upset, especially if those people are the American taxpayers.

President Obama and his family like to enjoy themselves on an annual vacation (after all, who doesn’t?), but their vacations end up costing taxpayers about $4.8 million every year.

CNS News reports that the Obamas have gone on eight family vacations to Hawaii during their time in office, and their total travel expenses after all those trips are accounted for exceeds $85 million.

“Unnecessary presidential travel for fundraising and luxury vacations on the taxpayers’ dime would be a good target for reform for the incoming Trump administration,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch. “The Secret Service and the Air Force are being abused by unnecessary travel.”

The Blaze states that the Obamas will officially move out of the White House on January 20th.

President-elect Donald Trump already plans on canceling a new presidential plane in order to save money.

According to NPR, Trump tweeted the new aircraft will end up costing more than $4 billion and is asking the Obama administration to cancel the contract to save money. Trump and his team have declined to indicate where that cost estimate came from, however.

Despite Trump’s tweet, Boeing, Air Force One’s manufacturer, is currently only under contract for $170 million for new aircrafts.

“We look forward to working with the U.S. Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the President at the best value for the American taxpayer,” said a spokesperson for Boeing.


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