Free Republic

One of the centerpieces of the Democratic case for Barack Obama‘s reelection in Charlotte last week was the President’s record on national security – specifically, his decision to pursue the operation that eventually led to the death of Osama bin Laden. That impressive achievement, however, may be blunted by the force of revelations by former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen in today’s Washington Post. Thiessen writes: President Obama is touting his foreign policy experience on the campaign trail, but startling new statistics suggest that national security has not necessarily been the personal priority the president makes it out to be. It...

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on May 31, 2012 against the United States Air Force and the United States Secret Service to obtain records detailing Michelle Obama's February 2012 President's Day weekend ski vacation to Aspen, Colorado with her two daughters... Judicial Watch seeks access to any and all records concerning the mission taskings, transportation costs and passenger manifests for Mrs. Obama's February 2012 trip to Aspen, Colorado. ... the Aspen trip was the 16th vacation in three years taken by...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Obama is at the Clooney fundraiser last night, where, by the way, the story on that is, the original expectation was ten million. That's what they were gonna raise. But then, our brave, courageous president went out there and said that he thinks the states ought to determine gay marriage, and that gay people should be able to get married. Lo and behold, the floodgates opened, and an additional five million was raised at the Clooney fundraiser. I'm not believing that either. The whole thing is a crock. They got 15 from the get-go. ou got Obama...

Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing “staycations” because they can’t afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family’s 17 lavish vacations around the world and don’t want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas’ holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters. “They view everything through their own personal situation and if they can’t afford to do it, they can’t enjoy it, they don’t like Obama using their tax dollars to benefit himself,” said pollster John McLaughlin. “In this case, they see him as out of touch. While they are struggling he’s not sharing in that...

I guess the weather is finally warm enough on the east coast for King Putt Obama to resume hitting the links. After all, there’s nothing really happening in this country or elsewhere that could affect this country. It’s not like we have skyrocketing gas prices, a lousy economy, Iran getting a nuclear weapon or anything like that. While Michelle Obama took the kids to Las Vegas to party it up on the American tax payer’s dollar (just a week after the oldest daughter went on a secret vacation to Mexico with 25 secret service agents on 12 friends) Hussein Obama...

14 million Americans remain unemployed in the U.S., a number that is unchanged from July. As a Bureau of Labor Statistics report stated today, the economy created exactly zero jobs for the entire month of August signalling the failure of the current administration’s economic policies. In reponse to the zero job growth, White House economic advisor Gene Sperling said, “This president doesn’t think this is anywhere near enough”. A survey of economists agreed – they had expected more than 70,000 new jobs. The report also held that the numbers that had been reported in June and July had been incorrect....

Reporting from Martha's Vineyard, Mass.— On vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, President Obama managed to squeeze in some family time Thursday afternoon after spending the morning taking briefings on the economy, the situation in Libya and Hurricane Irene. Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters spent the afternoon at a private beach, which they have already visited twice since arriving in Martha’s Vineyard last Thursday.

The Obamas' summer break in Martha's Vineyard has already been branded a PR disaster after the couple arrived four hours apart on separate government jets. But according to new reports, this is the least of their extravagances. White House sources today claimed that the First Lady has spent $10million of U.S. taxpayers' money on vacations alone in the past year. Branding her 'disgusting' and 'a vacation junkie', they say the 47-year-old mother-of-two has been indulging in five-star hotels, where she splashes out on expensive massages and alcohol. The 'top source' told the National Enquirer: 'It's disgusting. Michelle is taking advantage...

FLASHBACK--George W. Bush Gives Up Golf: ‘Playing Golf During a War Sends Wrong Message’ Monday, August 22, 2011 By Penny Starr (CNSNews.com) – The White House has released some information about President Barack Obama’s vacation on Massachusetts’ upscale Martha’s Vineyard including his golf games, but no open press coverage of his time on the links has been allowed. President George W. Bush, who routinely allowed journalists to accompany him on golf outings early in his presidency, told Politico in May 2008 that he decided to give up the game in August 2003 after a bomb attack on the United Nations...

VINEYARD HAVEN, Massachusetts (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has taken heat for taking a vacation when the U.S. economy is struggling, but aides are striving to make clear he is not neglecting the country's finances during his break. On Monday, Obama met with a top economic adviser and spoke to investor Warren Buffett and Ford Motor Co. chief executive Alan Mulally about the economy, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Earnest also announced that Obama will travel to Detroit in two weeks to discuss the economy on the U.S. Labor Day holiday on September 5, setting up a major address...

Prepare for the rhetoric to heat up in the debate over border security, the Constitution and the use of executive power to selectively prosecute individuals who the administration deems undesirable. If you’re a coal company or a community bank, you’re screwed. If you’re a community organizer here illegally from Kenya or Juarez? Hurra! for you.  “Reacting to intense pressure from the Latino community and aware that President Obama will need their votes in 2012,” writes Albor Ruiz in the NY Daily News, “the White House announced with great fanfare last Thursday a plan to stop the deportation of some undocumented...

President and Mrs. Obama are sharing in the sacrifice tonight at the Beach Plum Restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, which features an array of overpriced selections for the first couple to choose from that could easily bring the bill within the range of $200. They might, for example, choose to start the meal with a $15 chunk of pizza cheese – I’m sorry, “Fresh Mozzarella” with “Fresh Basil, vine ripened tomatoes, aged balsamic reduction, and chive dill.” This is a good mix because some things are fresh, and some things are aged. But the sacrifice really gets serious with the entree,...

President Barack Obama ditched the Beltway grind yesterday to seek the pleasures of summer on the beaches of Martha's Vineyard - by way of two helicopter flights and a trip aboard Air Force One. And a further government jet was used by Michelle Obama as she arrived separately to her husband, with daughters Sasha and Malia, just a few hours before he landed. The President left the White House aboard Marine One on his way to Andrews Air Force base to hitch a lift aboard Air Force One. The President arrived on this wealthy Massachusetts island retreat as the stock...

There’ve been a lot of loud critics of President Obama’s vacation plans to Martha’s Vineyard -- even from some of his avid supporters. But when he touches down on this posh island in about six hours, he won’t find many here, if you believe Jenna Ware, a long time resident and driver for Stage Coach taxi service. Ware, sporting a dark tan you’ll see on most residents here, says that when the recession hit, the Vineyard remained unscathed. The island is pretty much recession proof, she says. When a passenger noted in a 2009 visit – the first time Mr....

"We're supportive of the president, but we're getting tired. We're getting tired. So, what we want to do is, we want to give the president every opportunity to show -- to show what he can do and what he's prepared to lead on," Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) told a Congressional Black Caucus-sponsored gathering yesterday in Detroit. "Our people are hurting," Waters added.

Fresh off three days of barnstorming in the Midwest, President Obama will spend the morning at the White House in two closed-door meetings, first with his senior economic advisors in the Oval Office then with his national security team in the Situation Room. In the afternoon, Obama heads to the island oasis of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts, where he’s expected to spend the next 10 days vacationing with his family.

NEW YORK -- Turmoil returned to U.S. stock markets at Thursday's open as renewed concerns about the global economy sent major indexes plunging and pushed gold to a new record high. Investors were working through bad news on various fronts, including a dismal forecast from Morgan Stanley for global economic growth, and two U.S. government-issued reports on inflation and the job market.

Forget the bus tour. In 24 hours, it’s White House vacation time, punctuated by the outcry of those who say a presidential respite at this juncture is ill-timed and clueless. Meanwhile, angst is brewing in Martha’s Vineyard, now gearing up for President Obama’s arrival on Thursday, marking his third visit to the rose-strewn island, not to mention Blue Heron Farm, the 28-acre luxury retreat that will host the president for 10 days.

Jay Carney, meet Jay Carney.In 2001, the then-Time magazine reporter wrote a snarky piece criticizing President George W. Bush's month-long vacation that was billed as a "Home to the Heartland" tour. But almost exactly 10 years later Carney, now the Obama White House's press secretary, is defending President Barack Obama's Midwest job-creation tour and vacation at Martha's Vineyard."I don't think Americans out there would begrudge that notion that the President would spend some time with his family," claimed Carney at a recent press briefing.But that's exactly what he, as a private citizen working for Time,

At a time when many more cash-strapped Americans are stuck at home instead of vacationing at the beach, President Obama next week will lead an entourage of several dozens to exclusive Martha's Vineyard island at a cost of millions to taxpayers. While technically he is paying for his estimated $50,000 a week rental of the 28-acre beachfront Blue Heron Farm in woodsy Chilmark, the dozens of U.S. Secret Service agents, communications officials, top aides, drivers, and U.S. Coast Guard personnel with him will be covered by taxpayers as with every other presidential vacation.[Get your Whispers on your iPad--subscribe to U.S....