Is he bringing Oprah this time?

Because if so, perhaps she can pick up part of the tab.

You can read about this trip HERE.

I text the brothers Bund on this subject a couple of days ago, and as it's now hitting the front pages and up for discussion on talk radio I wanted to address it. The president is going on a 10 day vacation (the White House's description, not mine) to India and Indonesia, at a cost of $200 million dollars - PER DAY. A $2 billion dollar trip? REALLY? From the moment I heard this a few days ago something didn't add up to me.

First, he's been campaigning for weeks, so I get taking a few days off. But this "vacation" doesn't make sense in any category. Lets start with PR - to spend $2 billion dollars on the heels of an election which was as much about government overspending as it was anything else, along with the sentiment in America that everyone must buckle down and cinch up their money belts to make ends meet, to take 34 war ships, jets, the National Guard, 800 rooms at the Taj Mahal Hotel (that's really it's name), a total of 3,000 persons - let me ask the double digit unemployed of America, does this give you the sense that Obama "feels your pain?"

Second, security. Whatever it takes to secure the safety of the president, fine. I want him protected. But then this trip doesn't make sense in either direction. If he NEEDS 34 war ships, the entire coast cleared, etc, in order to take this trip then the trip seems (to me anyway) too dangerous to undertake. I mean, this is an armada you'd take to accept the surrender of a war time enemy. Is he going to Yalta? Will the Japanese Imperial Navy be there? And if the trip is not "too dangerous" to embark on, why does he need a fleet of battle ready war ships? It doesn't add up. Especially when you consider the entire affair is billed as a "family vacation" to participate in Mumbai's "Festival of Lights." And let me just add, Mumbai has a thriving terrorist threat (see the 2008 attacks). The bottom line is either he needs 34 war ships, making the trip too dangerous. Or the trip isn't too dangerous and he doesn't need 34 war ships - it ain't both.

Third, the cost. Let me just put this "vacation" cost into perspective. On the NASA web site they answer commonly asked questions. Who's the youngest astronaut ever? Is the American flag still on the moon, etc. They list the expenditure, the total cost of a space shuttle launch/trip, as of 2010 at $450 million dollars. Can we, as a nation, implement a simple rule? That no public official can go on a tax payer funded vacation that COSTS MORE THEN GOING TO THE MOON!!!!????

As a tax payer who searches for his airfare on priceline, I'd appreciate it.