Fun ahead: President Obama arrived in Hawaii on Saturday and found himself at the Mid-Pacific Country Club's golf course on Monday. He is scheduled to return to the White House just after the new year to begin focusing on what he can get done with the Republican-controlled Congress in his final year in office
Obama said the meetings in a high school library were 'so moving' because the families were so representative of the country.
The Obamas' vacation costs are being savaged by a critical conservative group, which said Obama is treating Air Force One, which costs $206,000/hour to run, 'like an Uber ride' ahead of his next jaunt to his home state,' Tom Fitton, president of the Judicial Watch pressure group said.
Although some expenses - including the rent - are paid for privately, the emergency personnel and daily expenses of Obama's security detail are all publicly-funded.
Exact figures for the trip - outside of Air Force One - are hard to obtain. According to a Watchdog.com report on the 2014 trip, there is also an Air Force cargo plane to bring Obama's helicopter and limo, which costs more than $150,000 to get to Hawaii and back.
A second plane brings a Marine Corps contingent at similar cost.
The Honolulu Police Department also spends in the region of $275,000 a year in overtime for its officers, while the ambulance from the local Emergency Management Services costs $15,890 to keep on call.
Yet, he still has not taken anywhere near the total number of vacations or days off as his predecessor, George W. Bush, the report showed.
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