re: Why do Republicans whine about Obama's vacation days?

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No, but I'm sure they stayed on the property free of charge.

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When President Bush traveled to England in the fall of 2003 for a state visit, the Guardian reported that "Mr. Bush, his wife, Laura, and a 700-strong entourage worthy of a travelling medieval monarch, flew into Heathrow airport." And the Telegraph broke it down further, reporting that "Mr. Bush will be accompanied by a retinue consisting of 250 members of the Secret Service, 150 advisers from the National Security Department, 200 representatives of other government departments and 50 political aides." Also traveling with the president were "his personal chef, personal assistants, four cooks, medics and the presidential 15-strong sniffer dog team," according to the report.

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In 1999, the General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office) issued a report detailing the amount of planning and personnel support that went into executing President Bill Clinton's foreign trips to Africa, Chile and China in 1998.

According to the GAO, nearly 500 people played a role in Clinton's nine-day trip across China, either traveling with the president, providing support to the delegation of travelers, or traveling to China earlier as a part of several advance teams that assisted in the planning of the president's trip. And nearly 600 were involved in Clinton's five-day trip to Chile that year, and nearly 1,300 were a part of Clinton's 11-day trip across Africa as well. And those totals did not include members of the Secret Service or non-federal officials and private citizens who later reimbursed the government for their travel costs, GAO said.

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Also, Larry Speakes, press secretary to President Ronald Reagan, was quoted by John Hendren of the States News Service in 1992, saying: "I would say on some of the (Reagan administration's) European trips we had like 700 to 800 people involved, excluding the press corps."

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