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Bush Spent 5 Times More On Flights To Texas Than Obama’s Christmas Vacation Costs
Those who criticize the cost of Obama’s Christmas vacation don’t want you to know that George W. Bush spent at least $20 million taxpayer dollars just on flights to his ranch in Crawford.
The right wing has been outraged at the four million dollar plus price tag for Obama’s family Christmas vacation, and they constantly hold George W. Bush up as an example of how thrifty a president should be when going on vacation.
The problem is that W. wasn’t thrifty. He was the most expensive vacation president in US history. Not only did Bush spend more days on vacation than any other president, but he used Air Force One more often while on vacation than any other president.
During Bush’s two terms, the cost of operating Air Force One ranged from $56,800 to $68,000 an hour. Bush used Air Force One 77 times to go to his ranch in Crawford, TX. Using the low end cost of $56,800, Media Matters calculated that each trip to Crawford cost taxpayers $259,687 each time, and $20 million total for Bush’s ranch flights.
If cost of the flight was the only expense involved to taxpayers Bush’s vacations would still seem rather economical, but there is more, much more. Unlike the Obama’s $4 million Christmas vacation price tag, which includes the cost of everything from transportation to accommodations for the First Family, the White House staff, and the White House press corps, Bush’s numbers only include the cost of flying the president to Crawford. The cost of transporting and accommodating staff, media, friends and family is not included in Bush’s vacation numbers.
In response to growing criticism that the president was on vacation too much, the Bush administration adopted the Rovian tactic of scheduling, “work events,” while the president was in Crawford so that they could claim that President Bush’s vacations were working vacations. During his infamous pre-9/11 August vacation, the AP reported that, “Using the ranch as a base, he will promote White House initiatives in Rocky Mountain National Park, Denver, Albuquerque, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and San Antonio.”
Bush’s “working vacations” cost taxpayers a small fortune in travel costs because President Bush and his staff would make day trips on Air Force One all across the country in order to counter the criticism that he was on vacation too often. For eight years, Bush essentially used Air Force One as his personal vacation taxi service.
What was also not counted in Bush’s Air Force One mileage total were the vacations where Bush flew to Crawford from Camp David such as the following via Media Matters:
In a December 27, 2001, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Sun-Sentinel article (accessed via Nexis), national correspondent Jeff Zeleny reported “[a]fter spending Christmas at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, the president and first lady boarded Air Force One to travel to their ranch near the village of Crawford.”
And on December 26, 2007, The Associated Press reported that Bush took “Air Force One to fly from his Maryland mountaintop retreat to his Texas ranch here to see in the new year.”
FactCheck.org was writing about the anonymous chain emails about Obama’s travel costs and noted in July that the stories about Obama’s travel expenses are, “part of continuing pattern of false and misleading claims about the travels of the president and the first lady,” and that Obama used Air Force One less in his first two years in office than George W. Bush did.
That same pattern of false information about Obama’s travel costs relative to Bush’s is also rampant on right wing blogs, websites, and Fox News. The cost of Obama’s Christmas vacation is a good example of how right wing media can take a small fact like vacation costs or the number of Americans paying taxes in a single year and build an entire misinformation campaign around it.
The total cost of Obama’s Christmas vacation may be $4 million, but George W. Bush spent exponentially more taxpayers dollars, because he used Air Force One for political purposes in an attempt to distract the public from the amount of days that he was spending on vacation. In flights alone just for himself, George W. Bush spent five times more money flying just himself to Texas than Obama is spending on an entire Christmas vacation.
It is likely that the Bush administration spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on vacations, but the false outrage machine is on overdrive due to one Obama Christmas vacation.
By not including the cost of everything, the Obama bashers distorted the numbers to make it appear that Obama was lavishly spending taxpayer dollars on vacations, but a look inside the numbers reveals that nobody knows how to waste taxpayer dollars quite like the GOP.
Merry Christmas, Republicans. Here’s to another false Obama smear debunked.
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58 Responses to Bush Spent 5 Times More On Flights To Texas Than Obama’s Christmas Vacation Costs
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crystalwolfakacaligrl
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Did Mark Knoller REALLY say that? Or was that just a lie on the chain letter? If so he should be chastised for making up shit.
I’ve tweeted to him this story, see if he has the guts to refute it!
Jason Easley
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 2:17 pm
No, he really didn’t say that, and in the FactCheck post I liked to Knoller again repeats the correct info. The right took his good research and mangled it.
crystalwolfakacaligrl
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Ok, its really hard to see what is going on, I tried listening to his news report in dec 2010 and it was just going on & on. I would like to think a CBS news person wouldn’t DARE say something like that but these days…??? Who knows. Even though he should refute b/c in the chain letter is attributed to HIM.
Thanks Jay for clearing that up for me 8)
DUKE SNIDER
Dec. 28th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
What is this? It cost tax payers nearly 57,000 an hour under Bush for Air Force One and yet it only cost like 140,000 for a 10 or 12 hour flight to Hawaii under Obama? The way I calculate it a 10 hour flight is well over a half million dollars one way for this flight and over a million dollars both ways without including the half million dollars it cost to fly Moochella on Air Force two.
Can we say selective math hiding behind how they calculate things?
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 28th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
You can if you provide facts
Tracey
Dec. 28th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Did anyone also note that most of Pres. Obama’s vacation was paid for from his own pocket?
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 28th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
I had no idea it was
shera
Jan. 3rd, 2012 at 10:21 am
where did you get that info?
shera
Jan. 3rd, 2012 at 10:24 am
Lemme just add that the “unbiased and truthful” Media Matters is a George Soros (Obama’s puppet master) owned and controlled entity.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 3rd, 2012 at 11:05 am
That is pretty hilarious. May we see your information concerning Soros owning MM?
shera
Jan. 3rd, 2012 at 10:28 am
also-
FACTCHECK.ORG is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.”
“Barack Obama was a founding member, chairman, and president of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which was also funded by the Annenberg Foundation.”
Soooo, by the powers of deductive reasoning, factcheck.org is questionable at best.
KP
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 3:02 pm
I’m not an investigative reporter – BUT… the high price tag of Obama’s vacation seems to be based entirely on this new estimate of what it costs to fly Air Force One – an estimate triple what you used to estimate the costs of Bush’s vacations. If the new flight cost is accurate, you’d have to go back and recalculate Bush’s vacation costs (adjusting for inflation, which shouldn’t change the numbers too much, since we’re only talking 3-10 years ago, with low inflation during that time – it certainly couldn’t account for a tripling in the cost). www.foxnews.com/politics/...
Duhbyuh
Dec. 24th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
History will judge Obama’s vacation price tag
KP
Dec. 24th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
That’s surely correct, but we can’t just triple the cost of operating Air Force One when comparing his travel with his predecessor’s.
shera
Jan. 3rd, 2012 at 10:30 am
No, I’m pretty sure the record of wasteful spending habits of this president will be hidden forever.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 3rd, 2012 at 11:06 am
What wasteful spending? The creation of over 3 million jobs? The public paying for the Bush wars that Bush hid? The injection of money into companys to keep them solvent during the Bush depression that Obama has brogught us out of?
Sean
Jan. 5th, 2012 at 8:54 am
3 million jobs? Tthe Bush depression that Obama has brogught us out of? WTF are you talking about. We are still in a hole and more people are out of work than ever. Do you live in a cave??? Public media and the WH have hid the real spending of the Obama family. He doesn’t fund his vacations. His net worth is a lot smaller than the average congressional member.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 5th, 2012 at 9:31 am
Obama’s job spending has created over 3 million jobs. Economists agree that we were out of the Bush Depression last year. The unemployment rate right now is exactly the same as it was the day that George W. Bush left office 8.6%.
Until you can come up with something that indicates Obama’s real spending all you really have is silliness. Obama is a millionaire. You keep stating things that you have no idea of what you’re talking about. He can easily find his own vacations. I suggest that you start looking into some facts before you post things
Sandy
Dec. 27th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Vacation days controversy: Just another reason to criticize Obama about EVERYTHING. I voted for the man, but have been disappointed. Nonetheless, Dubya’s vacation days were always remarked on as exceptional at the time. Trying to criticize Obama in comparison is an exercise in ridiculous futility. He goes to Hawaii a lot? His birthplace and where his remaining maternal family lives.
Vinnie The Snake
Dec. 28th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
151 days of vacation in his first year… that’s the shrub’s record.
John S
Dec. 29th, 2011 at 8:52 am
This is what happens when you have a hillbilly in Washington that would rather be in the toolies in Texas.
If Obama cured cancer they would blame him for a down turn in the funeral business.
Obama is not Jesus,…but it reminds me of when he was taken to Pilot to be judged. Pilot said I find no fault in him, then the republicans said, crucify him crucify him.
The right wing in this country are the source of evil in this country.
As far as I am concerned he is to good a man to be President.
The GOP puts up clowns riddled with foibles starving for power and they haven’t a word to say about it.
Hypocrites all of them.
Chak
Dec. 31st, 2011 at 8:46 pm
You call Republican candidates clowns. But your Democratic President takes pride in fact that he copied Romney’s Mass. healthcare plan to develop his Healthcare Bill. Who is clown Obama or Romney?
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 31st, 2011 at 9:12 pm
He didn’t copy it, it served ion part as the base. The actual plan is a republican plan from several years ago made up by the heritage foundation. Try to get informed
At this point the clown is you
Fiona Mackenzie,
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Here’s a hobby for anyone who’s bored: Watch for bits of WH news (like Xmas trees or beer in the garden), make a note of the facts, and over the next several days, count and save the number of false accusations and claims arising from them.
Nancy
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Thank you! I’ve been looking for actual dollars spent to fight off the right wing loons to no avail. I found data on how many vacations Bush took, but no dollar amount to compare it to Obama. Can’t wait to go post this EVERYPLACE ..
This is perfect! Again, thank you! Your a news source I can trust and my favorite! :D
Happy Holidays!
Nancy
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 5:35 pm
You’re **** lol
Izzy
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 6:26 pm
Wait, so you’re saying that 8 years of flights coss more than ONE vacation during ONE year?
*golf clap*
PatL
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 8:03 pm
You didn’t read the article in its entirety.
“If cost of the flight was the only expense involved to taxpayers Bush’s vacations would still seem rather economical, but there is more, much more. Unlike the Obama’s $4 million Christmas vacation price tag, which includes the cost of everything from transportation to accommodations for the First Family, the White House staff, and the White House press corps, Bush’s numbers only include the cost of flying the president to Crawford. The cost of transporting and accommodating staff, media, friends and family is not included in Bush’s vacation numbers.”
So the comparison is like buying just airfare or getting a vacation package.
Iman Azol
Dec. 24th, 2011 at 3:42 am
The aircraft expense per mile is a fixed cost, whether you transport 1 person or 300 aboard it.
Just out of curiosity, what have 0′s recreational flights totaled so far, compared to either of Bush’ terms? That would be a relevant comparison.
Clif Evans
Dec. 27th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Actually, the price of a flight increases with each pound carried. Each additional pound requires more fuel, more fuel means greater cost.
Arthur
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Your crook is worse than our crook!
tz
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Face it there are those on the right who are annoyed that Mr. Obama is breathing the same air they are.
Conservative Heart
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Again…the left cannot win any arguments unless they reach for those damn facts that always carry a liberal slant.
Joe
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 8:14 pm
So, President Bush spent 5 times more on trips to Texas in 8 years than Obama is spending on his 1 trip to Hawaii? Damn him!
Vastly Amused
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 9:28 pm
Guess you, like Izzy, didn’t read the article in full. The cost of the trip to Hawaii is not just for the flight, but for everything and everyone there. The article also doesn’t tell you that the Obamas are paying for their personal costs, including the rent on the house where they are staying. They are also paying for other costs not considered “official”.
From a source I consider a lot more reliable than Fox, Bush’s trips actually cost the taxpayers well over $150 MILLION total because he was always on the road. He’s the reason the Secret Service ordered the buses–they got tired of spending millions a year to outfit rentals every time he wanted to be all folksy with “the people”.
labman57
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 9:40 pm
It isn’t about the cost, it’s about which family is living in the White House.
Over and over again, self-righteous conservative pundits have indignantly decried something that Obama has done, completely and conveniently oblivious to the fact that said practice, policy, event, expenditure, etc was hardly unprecedented and was well within the norm for the First Family.
Swiggy
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 10:26 pm
I received that e-mail about how President Obama’s (mis)use of Air Force One a few days back. I went to the Fact Check article and advised the sender about it. His response was typical right wing. “It doesn’t matter, NObama doesn’t need fact checking – just watch him on TV and his evil comes through very well”
Iman Azol
Dec. 24th, 2011 at 3:45 am
However, “Factcheck” is biased and likes to choose which facts it uses.
You’ll deny this, of course, because 0 is perfect and without flaw.
What a shame that fewer people recognize it every day.
Deanna Woods
Dec. 27th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
It’s true that facts can be juggled sometimes to create a reality, but I’ve searched in vain many times on conservative web sites to find facts. Often, the links there lead only to ads–no facts. Sites like FactCheck and Politifact both provide the links to the actual sources they used, so that readers can check or themselves. Truth requires looking at lots of pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle, and pulling them together intelligently to get as complete a picture as possible. The frustrating thing with the conservative sites so far is that they tend to respond with unsupported opinions and the same statements repeated like a mantra, almost like Stepford wives, in the same tone. They also tend to speak in extremes, such as “O is perfect and without flaw.” Or, “Democrats are all Nazis.” After 40 years in language arts, I’m rather good at seeing patterns, and this pattern is very clear.
Chris
Dec. 23rd, 2011 at 11:50 pm
So, what we’re saying is that our government is criminally wasteful and incompetent, right? We should bring most of them up on charges and fire the rest, right?
Ron Miltenberger
Dec. 25th, 2011 at 11:56 pm
Mr Easley, LIke yourself, I’m always cautious in trusting what I read and believe,just for clarification, what party do you lean towards? I want to verify whether I should believe your data. Thanks, R MIlt
Jeffro
Dec. 26th, 2011 at 12:02 am
Who cares about how much Obama spent on vacation. What about when Obama said Bush was spending “dangerously”, yet Obama spent more in his first 2 years than Bush did his entire 8 years. There’s no ‘Bush spent *x-amount* more than Obama on that one. THE most important one to all of us.
TTB
Dec. 27th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
@Jeffro, you obviously don’t have a clue about the economic system, since you seem to be yelling at the fireman for how much “water” he spent to put out the fire. The bottom line is the spending was needed to right the economy (and put the fire out)which was at a free fall when Obama entered office. Besides, Bush failed to include the cost of his war(s) in his economic forecast and used numbers which we are now finding out are much higher than he stated. Please get your facts correct…
Woody
Dec. 26th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Liberal media is hardly an independent auditor! Bush spent 5 times as much in 8 years as Obama spent on ONE vacation and Bush is to blame? Obama’s flippant approach is to live in tax paid splendor while those of us who he said were “rich” are now on minimum wage. My Christmas card from Bush was a mass produced regular sized picture. Have you seen Obama’s 2011 card? 18 x 12 inch painting of Bo by the fireplace with leather binder and gold signatures? And that’s a fact! A modern day Nero and we pay the fiddler!!!
Deanna Woods
Dec. 27th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
Notably, several articles have pointed out that the Obamas pay for much of their own part–rentals, etc.–of the vacation. The cost of the guards, press corps, and such that go along with any president for such occasions is pretty much out of those presidents’ control. And it makes sense that the leader of the nation should have a vacation. Another point: The Bushes were and are much wealthier than the Obamas, so the proportion of personal income required to do take these vacations is larger for the Obamas. One point the author raises is that the Obamas should not be criticized unfairly; things need to be taken in perspective. I believe we should look at facts in order to find out truth and work together to build a better world where people live the Golden Rule. It’s still a good idea.
TTB
Dec. 27th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
@Woody, In 2002 George W. Bush had a
A photo-realist painting of a piano in the White House. BTW there were NO shepherds, wise men, or mangers to be found. In 2005 ,
Bush’s two dogs, Barney and Miss Beazely, in a spare painting by Jamie Wyeth. No garland, or presents. The inside reads ” With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happieness”, no mention of Christmas and a costly “painting” done by Jamie Wyeth of, (wait for it) his TWO dogs. Either you’re a huge hypocrite or you never received the Bush’s Christmas cards, I’d bet it’s the first reason…
Günther Rückl
Dec. 28th, 2011 at 12:32 am
For Olaf Palme,former Swedish prime minister, security had never been a major issue, and Olaf Palme could often be seen without any bodyguard protection. The night of his murder was one such occasion. Walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbet Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen, close to midnight on 28 February 1986, the couple was attacked by an assassin. Palme was fatally shot in the back at close range (gleaned from Wikipedia).
Sure security is a problem but even prime ministers wouldn’t need a separate plane to travel. They should travel First Class with their bodyguards and smallest of staff (2-3)and live in a normal mansion like everyone else, as Palme did. Even if Bush wasted way more money on travel, Obama’s $4 mio. is not a pittance. Only the smallest of staff should be paid from taxpayers’ money. Vacation travel cost and the rest should be covered by the president himself. These guys live like kings and waste public money, in particular in view of our monumental national debt. At the address of all presidential contenders: Don’t run for president if you plan to be king. King presidents will be deposed soon; read my lips.
William Carr
Dec. 28th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
“Vacation travel cost and the rest should be covered by the president himself. These guys live like kings and waste public money”
The White House budgets contains money for security, transport, housing, and upkeep.
None of that is the President’s business.
(He’s an employEE, after all, not an employER. His job comes with little perks like being defended from assassins, but that’s not a waste of money.)
The number of DAYS the President spends on vacation is his choice, and says something about his character.
Obama goes on vacation occasionally, but at about a third as many days as Bush.
And Obama did pay for his own housing on his Christmas vacation.
BTW, there’s a bit of a flaw in your logic here:
“Sure security is a problem but even prime ministers wouldn’t need a separate plane to travel. They should travel First Class with their bodyguards and smallest of staff (2-3) and live in a normal mansion like everyone else, as Palme did”
Yes, but the Swedish Prime Minister DIED.
Maybe his death didn’t shake the world like the death of an American President, but I’m sure it had a terrible impact on his family and his Nation.
Maybe Sweden should have spent a bit more on Security, hmm ?
And having a well-secured plane, armored helicopter, bodyguards… this is part of the price of having a job where crazy people want to kill you.
So the President should travel First Class? So, any assassin with the price of the ticket can just walk on board the President’s airplane and slip poison into the food.
You are daft.
It’s not the money you spend, it’s what you get for it. If you want to have the most powerful Nation on earth, maybe you should expect to have to spend some cash on Security.
John
Dec. 29th, 2011 at 11:49 am
Talk about gross lies and misinformation… 8 years vs 3 years and comparing one vacation to 8 years worth. Then saying that any president does not work while on vacation. Saying Bush used his plane for political oh my gosh Obama has been using planes trains and automobiles for political campaign since he arrived. THis whole article is a left leaning whine and excuse for Obama’s Vacation. Clearly you are a liberal and supporter of Obama.
RM
Dec. 30th, 2011 at 10:23 am
Has someone forgotten the big O’s 2008 record spending of $740 milion to land his position? Why would big O think he needs to stop spending now? Maybe we should ask the big O to demonstrate his spending/budgeting skills by spending less on his 2012 Election Campaign? Not a Snowballs chance!
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 30th, 2011 at 10:25 am
And this has to do with the article how?
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 31st, 2011 at 5:57 pm
There is no lack of truth here. Obama gets A vacation just like everyone else does. The housing crash started in 2006, you didn’t see Bush stop taking vacations at a frenetic pace. You’re picking apart silly matters
Chak
Dec. 31st, 2011 at 8:10 pm
Shiva: Bush did not claim that he saved us from Depression. The key point was the hypocracy of Obama built in claiming Depression and sending wife and family on Air Force 2 for vacation to Spain. I did not say Obama can’t take vacation. Read before commenting!!!Your site’s logo says no corporate money. But is it all Union money and Obama’s campaign funds? There seems to be outright dismissal of comments about failings of Obama.
Shiva (Moderator)
Dec. 31st, 2011 at 9:17 pm
We are out of the depression according to economists quote some time ago. If you are taking that claim of Obamas seriously then you know you are in the wrong. Mrs Bush made several trips overseas at our expense. I never had a problem with it. You are nitpicking silly stuff.
There is no failing of Obama here, just a whiner making little sense
sadie.smith
Jan. 3rd, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Republican. Democrat. It doesn’t matter what party or who spent how many millions of $$$. What is infuriating is that they all get to take so many vacations. It’s a job – a 4 or 8 year gig and you’re set for life. A hard job to be sure, but again… short term.
How about we unite and be angry for all the taxpayer dollars they waste?