It seems that our President is, technically, a felon... once more. Yep, that's my take. You see, President Obama is in violation of a Federal Law that requires the President to deliver his budget to Congress on the first Monday of February of each year. At the time of this writing, he is in violation of that law in excess of 5 weeks and has no plan to present his budget until at least April, 2013... if at all. This shouldn't be surprising since he's missed this deadline in 4 of the last 5 years, and for the third year in a row... or that the Senate has yet to produce and pass a budget in 4 years. I know it's a tough job, and I'm sure that he's working hard at getting it done, but let's take a look at what he's been up to for the last 5 weeks, and a little bit before the deadline.
In the month before the deadline, specifically from Jan. 1 through Jan. 27, President Obama did little to nothing. Realize, of course, that he had lots to do to prepare for the inauguration... for all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the "most transparent" President in history. During this period, he did manage to have lunch with the Vice President 4 times and make 4 "personal announcements." He also managed to meet with our great friend and ally, Afghanistan President H. Karzai all day on Jan. 11. One can only imagine how much money was spent during that meeting.
In the week prior to the budget deadline, President Obama managed to have lunch with the Vice President once, lunch with Sec. Clinton once, fly to Las Vegas to give a chat about immigration reform to an undisclosed group, then fly back in the same afternoon (minimum Air Force One operational costs for that trip ring in at approximately $1.4-2.0 million, depending on exact air time and staffing). He also managed to conduct two interviews with Spanish TV reporters and present some awards for something or another. Clearly, the President was concerned about getting his budget completed and delivered the following week.
Since the deadline has passed, President Obama has managed to log no less than 20 more hours on Air Force One, over half of that coming on a three-day, three-state tour de force between Feb. 13-15. On those trips, he flew to a factory in North Carolina, a kindergarten school in Georgia and to Chicago to talk about his State of the Union Address (which he had already delivered two days prior -- just to be clear). Then on Feb. 15, following his clarification tour in Chicago, he flew off to West Palm Beach for a guys weekend with that well-known financial and marital guru, Tiger Woods. Nobody knows exactly what that 3-day jaunt cost taxpayers, but considering the extra security and staffing, it's got to be at least 20-bucks, right? The estimated Air Force One operational costs, alone, for travel during this time is between $5-6.9 million. Just a tiny drop in the bucket for someone so concerned about our financial woes.
Also during this time, Dear Leader made 3 more "personal announcements," delivered "remarks" on one thing or another at least 8 times, had lunch with Joe at least 6 more times, conducted at least 4 more tv/radio/media interviews (including an important interview with Al Sharpton), attended a Google+ Hangout to talk (more) about his SOTU Address, and presented some more awards here and there. Additionally, he found time to hook up with the Japanese Prime Minister and play host to His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanai Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam. Oh, oh... and he managed to get down to Newport News, VA to deliver remarks about how damaging the sequester would be if "Congressional Republicans fail to compromise..." on budget matters. I always thought compromise meant both sides were giving a little.
So, it appears that the President has truly been a busy man, as would be expected. The one thing glaringly missing from the calendar during this entire time, aside from Snookie not visiting the White House, is that the President did not meet with his Budget Committee one, single, solitary time. For someone who finds it appealing to talk to the nation, and those whom he is supposed to serve, about budgets and such, he sure doesn't seem too worried about getting the job done, or in complying with the law.
My question is this... how on earth can any of us continue to take this President seriously? How can anyone feel vindicated in lecturing us, the public, or any other leaders on budgetary issues and fiscal responsibility when legal deadlines are flippantly ignored? How much longer are we really going to sit back and eat what this President and his ilk are feeding us? How long?
All of this, by the way, is easily discovered on the published White House calendar located at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
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