You don't think the taxpayers pay for the press plane, do you? They don't.
In fact, lately the press have been cutting back on presidential travel due to budget cutbacks. And that's a bad thing, actually, because now there are less and less reporters covering the president, which means the stories we see have fewer and fewer sources, and thus fewer and fewer facts attached to them.
For decades whenever the president went somewhere, the press chartered a plane, sometimes from an airline, but usually one of the Gulfstream jets provided via the Secret Service. The price for a seat on such a plane runs around $2000, regardless of who provides it. That's why many news organizations, including the big ones, have been scaling back. There was a good article about this very issue just a few weeks ago in the New York Times, where the White House Correspondents’ Association showed where presidential trips cost the press $18 million last year, down from $22 million the year before, and $25 million the year before that. The press is spending less and less on trips in general, and presidential trips specifically, because ratings are down and news organizations are cutting their own work force.
A couple of months ago when Obama went out to San Francisco, no press plane accompanied him. The only press that went were the scant handful, those who are within the so-called "presidential bubble", the dozen reporters in a travel pool that fly on Air Force One and take notes and pictures for the rest of the press corps. When Obama flew to Prague for the nuclear arms deal, no press plane, just the "bubble" press.
That really limits news coverage of someone who should have every second of his day observed, if you ask me. Last thing we want is for the president, whoever he may be, to be traveling alone without the press.
But if you're looking to save money on presidential trips by leaving the dog or a reporter or an aid or two behind, forget it. It costs roughly $68,000 an hour to keep Air Force One in the air, just in fuel costs alone. Throw in the cost of the Secret Service advance teams, security, and the Presidential motorcade (limo and secret service vehicles, and others) which are sent ahead of time on military transport aircraft which is usually include two VC-25As and a C-130, plus the "backup" VC-25A Boeing 747-200B Air Force One plane, and you're talking millions of dollars per trip. Clinton's visit to Asia in 2000 cost taxpayers an estimated $63 million. President Bush's visit to five African countries in 2008 was closer to $150 million. Obama's vacation trip to Maine pales in comparison to either of those, at an estimated one million dollars.
Did you know Junior had 77 separate trips to Crawford alone? That's more than $17 million in Air Force One fuel costs, not including any other costs. That's a lot of money to go to Crawford. He spent 1020 days on vacation, 487 days at Camp David, 490 days at Crawford Ranch, and 43 days at Kennebunkport Compound. That's more than 1/3 of his presidency on vacation. Carter took 79 days in 4 years. Clinton took 152 days in 8 years. Reagan took 335 days in 8 years. Bush Sr. took 543 days in 4 years. Obama has spent less time on vacation at this point in his presidency than anyone other than Carter.
Yeah, I know, even when they're on vacation, they're not really on vacation, they work 24/7. Except Junior, who certainly appeared to be on vacation even when he was in the Oval Office. But I digress.
These trips cost real money, but you cannot look at the cost strictly in terms of individual trips, in other words, it would not
save the taxpayers an equal amount had the president not taken this or that trip. The Office of the President is bigger than one man, and his travel around the world, or on vacation, has the ability to make huge positive impacts on the United States. Air Force One is one of the most power tools in the world. Is presidential travel expensive? Absolutely. Could it cost less? Definitely. But it would cost the US much much more were the President forced to stay in Washington all the time. It's simply the cost of doing the business of the President.
As for the dog, if the family is going on vacation, I don't see any reason why the dog can't come, too. And what do you mean dogs don't know vacations from hometime? Is that not the happiest dog you've ever seen? He
loves Maine, can't you tell?
