Bill O'Reilly somehow thinks the Obama's "lavish" vacation to Spain is worth discussing during his nightly, one-hour, no-spin zone. Apparently since we are experiencing an economic downturn, Mr. and Mrs. POTUS should pretend they they are unemployed or at the least, that they go to bed hungry some nights.
O'Reilly's silliness detracts from what could have been a serious discussion on fiscal restraint and wisdom with other people's tax dollars. On this story, he should applaud Michelle Obama for taking this trip and spending her money. Something like "it is one vacation in a long and productive life. Enjoy it." Then he should say "people making decisions with their own money is a good thing, but people making decisions with other people's money is typically a bad thing. For example..." and then he could list the myriad of expensive pieces of legislation on Mrs. Obama's husband's watch. But no, Mr. O'Reilly must go to the least common denominator every single day at 8 pm, 11 pm, and 5 am EST. To be honest, its not the worst show on cable (see Olbermann), but its not very good either.
O'Reilly misses the bigger point here- and really missed a "teachable moment" for the former law professor turned president. When individuals decide what they want to do with their money, they typically make better decisions than others on how to spend that same money. Let's be honest- its easy to spend other people's money but it is hard to spend your own. Because "scarcity exists" and for most, money is not an unlimited commodity, sometimes you have to make difficult decisions with what you buy or refrain from buying. But if the money spigot is perceived to be unlimited, those decisions do not have to be made.
Below are my comments I left at the CNN.com discussion of this issue.
"The Obama's can go where they want to go and do what they want to do with their money- regardless of the economic downturn, upturn, etc. If they are spending their money, who cares? I am not an Obama fan, but I certainly support individuals being permitted to make decisions with their money. Nobody spends your money as wisely as you do. I wish the "targets" here supported this idea."
I don't think it's that big of a deal, but don't pretend like there wasn't a significant incremental expense for the flights, lodging, meals and etc of the additional security. Michelle may have paid for her hotel and meals, but that is minuscule by comparison. My question is, who needs a vacation every 8 weeks?
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