Today’s aero-news.net carries a story about the cost of Obama’s Hawaiian vacation to the aviation industry there. It will not be a merry Christmas for the sightseeing operators, that’s for sure. Between economic losses due to restrictions and delays and the direct cost of naval, air, and land security, Obama’s vacation should cost the U.S. economy at least $100 million.
Now that we’re shutting down our Al-Qaeda Welcome Center in Guantanamo Bay, why not turn that into a fully secured tropical vacation destination for any senior government official who is entitled to Secret Service protection? The savings to taxpayers would probably exceed $1 billion annually (see this posting about what it cost taxpayers for the attorney general to visit Martha’s Vineyard last summer). Miss Universe enjoyed her recent time at the beach there (source). If it is good enough for the most beautiful woman in the world, why isn’t it good enough for our senior bureaucrats?
The Presidential TFR’s would be funny, if the erosion of our airspace rights was not so sad. I couldn’t even fly my micro-RC Vapor airplane (VNE 3knts, max TOweight 25grams) within the 30mile exclusion without technically violating the TFR.
There are so many things you can criticize this president and this administration for, but this issue is just such a desperate attempt to find something else an addition to really important issues. Lets grow up, everybody!
Jerry: Taxpayers incurring an extra $1 billion per year in expense may not seem significant to you. However, in a U.S. economy that is shrinking in real/Euro terms, remember that the $1 billion will hurt a little more every year. Also remember that somewhere out there is a 70-year-old working at Walmart who will be working extra hours to cover the cost of taxes collected to pay for security when a Washington bureaucrat decides to go to the beach. Somewhere out there is a young person whose career in aviation will be delayed because all of the flight schools on Oahu were shut down for a couple of weeks.
It is easy to advocate for a larger and more expensive government if you don’t see that real people are harmed by higher taxes.