The Obamas’ Extravagant Vacation Price Tag
Like all socialists, they do it on the backs of the people.
Barack and Michelle Obama have long treated taxpayers as their personal sugar daddies when it comes to vacations and travel. Judicial Watch has long tracked these expenses, as we have, and the group estimates, “To date, Obama’s and his family’s travel expenses total at least $85,029,819.”
We’d emphasize the “at least” part. There are direct costs, which the administration may or may not entirely disclose (this is the Most Transparent Administration in History™, after all), and there are indirect costs that aren’t reported. As the Washington Examiner explains, “The [disclosed] expenses cover items such as security, flights and hotel rooms for staff and U.S. Secret Service. They do not include the price of prepositioning ships and aircraft in the area or much of the communications costs.” Indeed, largely because of the latter factors, we’ve estimated the Obamas’ heritage tour to Africa alone cost between $80 and $100 million. That’s living rich and famous, Obama style.
They routinely head for extravagant vacations in Hawaii (at $5 million a pop) or the glitzy Martha’s Vineyard. And they generally live higher on the hog than even billionaire Donald Trump — and the Obamas do it, like all socialists, on the backs of the people.