Presidential trips must be expensive

It is interesting to me that there has been zero discussion recently about the enormous expense associated with President Obama's four trips to Florida, Indiana and Illinois to sell his economic stimulus package, not to mention his Valentine's Day family trip home to Chicago. All in 6 days.

For those who aren't familiar with the process, when the President travels, standard procedure includes an advance security detail, a traveling security detail including several airplanes and multiple specialized vehicles not to mention hundreds of Secret Service personnel. What do you think that costs per trip in Air Force One?

In this time of TARP-assisted CEOs being held to tough new standards of fiscal responsibility for unnecessary expenditures in the form of "shameful" bonuses and "elitist" use of corporate jets, our president is spending amounts unknown to travel on trips that really constitute government sponsored pep rallies. It seemed that he had the votes to get the package passed without these trips so, what's up?

Is he above the standards that his own administration has clearly set for sensible use of taxpayer money? Between these unnecessary and expensive junkets and the stumbling and bumbling with regard to his cabinet appointments, somebody needs to give our new President some advice: get back in the White House, get to work and stop spending our money unnecessarily. America needs you on the job - not on the road.

Robert Curry

Inverness