Obama To Spend Long Holiday Weekend In Florida (Michelle Obama in Aspen, Colorado) WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will spend the long holiday weekend in Florida, relaxing with friends.
The White House said this week that Obama would head to the West Palm Beach area on Friday, after a stop earlier in the day in Chicago, his hometown, to discuss economic proposals in his State of the Union address.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that Obama would spend a few days on Florida's Atlantic Coast relaxing with friends he did not identify. No public events were scheduled.
"The president of the United States is the president of the United States 24 hours a day, and will fulfill his responsibilities as president even while he's getting some well-deserved downtime with some friends this weekend," Earnest told reporters traveling with Obama. "I don't think the American people will begrudge him that."
Obama's traditional Christmas vacation in his native Hawaii was interrupted last year as he negotiated with Congress to avoid a slate of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could have hurt the economy.
He spent Christmas in Hawaii with first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, but soon after returned to Washington to resume negotiations. He flew back to the island state on New Year's Day, after a deal was reached, and returned to the White House with his family several days later.
Earnest did not mention Obama's family, which suggested that the first lady and their daughters would not join the president on vacation in a state he narrowly won on his way to re-election.
Mrs. Obama's office did not respond to a question about her plans for the weekend.
At an event Thursday at a school in suburban Atlanta, where Obama talked about his proposal to provide preschool for every 4-year-old, he allowed that Malia could have plans of her own this weekend.
"Now, I do have to warn the parents who are here who still have young kids. They grow up to be, like, 5-10, and even if they're still nice to you, they basically don't have a lot of time for you during the weekends," the president said. "They have sleepovers and - dates. So all that early investment just leads them to go away."
Obama often jokes about how tall Malia has grown - she's nearly as tall as her 6-foot-1 father - and how little time she has to spend with him now that she's a teenager.
Poster Comment:
Michelle Vacationing Separately From President Obama
by Keith Koffler, White House Dossier
First Lady Michelle Obama plans to vacation in Aspen, Colorado this Presidents Day weekend, separately from her husband, who will land this evening in West Palm Beach for his own down time with the boys.
According to Aspen newspapers, both Michelle and Vice President Biden are expected on the slopes. The White House has not yet announced the trip, and its not clear when she will be leaving, though she will presumably go today.
Michelles separate excursion from the president means that, even as the government prepares to slash spending as the March 1 sequester approaches, taxpayers will be footing the bill for two separate Obama vacations, paying for items like travel and the expensive security and staff entourages that accompany them everywhere.
Whats more, the Obamas just completed an exorbitant vacation to Hawaii, from which they returned January 6. The president billed taxpayers for two roundtrip tickets on Air Force One which costs approximately $180,000 an hour to use after he returned to Washington mid-vacation to deal with the Fiscal Cliff.
Michelle spent the entire 17 days in Hawaii, meaning shes back on vacation at taxpayer expense just weeks after a resting for more than two weeks in paradise.