title: HAPPY LABOR DAY! 5 STUNNING FACTS: How Obama Family Has Taken Full Advantage Of Everyday Working Americans
text: Happy Labor Day! Today is a day to celebrate working Americans and the contribution they make to our nation and to its prosperity. It s also a great time to consider what Obama has done to help Americans get jobs, improve wages, and to improve their living conditions. Have you ever wondered how much time off the average American takes for a family vacation as compared to Obama, or how much time they spend on the golf course? How much does the average American, who can actually afford to take a family vacation spend? How does the average American senior who s paid taxes their entire lives fare next to Michelle s 5-star, American taxpayer funded mom?A record 94,708,000 Americans were not in the labor force in May, 2016   664,000 more than in April   and the labor force participation rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 62.6 percent, near its 38-year low, according to the Labor Department s Bureau of Labor Statistics.When President Obama took office in January 2009, 80,529,000 Americans were not participating in the labor force; since then, 14,179,000 Americans have left the workforce   some of them retiring and some just quitting because they can t find work. By almost every economic measure, America is better off than when I came here at the beginning of my presidency,  President Obama told the people of Elkhart, Indiana in June, 2016.  We cut unemployment in half, years before a lot of economists thought we would. While the unemployment rate in May dropped to 4.7 percent, BLS reported, less than half of its Obama-era high of 10 percent in October 2009, the labor force participation rate overall, has deteriorated over Obama s two terms.FIVE FUN LABOR DAY FACTS 1) OBAMA S NET WORTH SINCE 2007:Barack and Michelle Obama s net-worth has risen 438% since Obama decided to run for office. Apparently, being a public servant and an oppressed First Lady pays big dividends.According to financial disclosure reports, President Obama has an estimated net worth of $7 million dollars.Since he was worth $1.3 million in 2007, that makes the millionaire 438% more wealthy than when he first ran for office.EVERYDAY AMERICANS:The average American income in 2015 was $53,657. Americans didn t get a raise last year. In fact, they haven t gotten one in years.The typical American family income was $53,657 in 2014, barely changed from $54,462 a year earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.What s worse   it s far below the peak set in 1999. That s a major reason why so many Americans are still gloomy about the economy six years into the recovery.2) OBAMA VACATIONS:Obama took an average of 21.5 vacations days per year in his first four years as president.Judicial Watch did a little digging on the travel costs of Obama s vacation on the West Coast back in October and found in the process that Obama has now racked up OVER $73 MILLION in travel expenses in his 7 years as president.Though some of the expenses incurred while fundraising are supposed to be reimbursed by political parties and campaigns,  only a small portion  of the president s travel costs are actually repaid, and, unsurprisingly, the White House  keeps the formula for such cost-sharing secret. Perhaps most depressing about the president s exorbitant travel expenses is that those figures do not even present the full cost of his spending on vacations, which inevitably include huge security, room and board, and entertainment (think golf) expenses.As for his West Coast fundraising jaunts, Obama used the trip as a way to promote his gun control agenda, party with Kanye West, and hit up Hollywood elites for big-dollar donations. Oh yeah, and he briefly squeezed in a visit with the families of victims of the San Bernardino terror attack that took the lives of 14.AVERAGE EVERYDAY AMERICAN:Private-industry workers in the United States who have at least 20 years on the job get an average of 19 days of paid vacation per year.According to American Express, the average vacation expense per person in the United States is $1,145, or $4,580 for a family of four. More than half of Americans, 56%, have not taken a vacation in the last year, according to the insurance company Allianz Global Assistance. That s equivalent to 135 million people. The survey defined vacation as a week off from work during which those surveyed travelled at least 100 miles away from home.Another survey of 1,005 Americans, conducted last year by Skift, found that just 15% of Americans planned to take a real vacation in 2014. That same survey found that 33% of Americans couldn t afford a vacation, 30% were too busy and that 22% were going to take a short vacation over a summer weekend.3) OBAMA S LEISURE TIME:Barack Obama has played over 300 rounds of golf, or an average of over 40 rounds per year since he took office in 2008.EVERYDAY AMERICAN:The National Golf Foundation identifies core golfers  in America as those who play an average of eight rounds per year.4). OBAMA AND MICHELLE S LUXURIOUS TAXPAYER FUNDED 5-STAR EXISTENCE:Since the beginning of Barack Obama s administration, the Obamas have become increasingly notorious for unnecessary, luxurious travel, under the guise of official business.According to records obtained by Judicial Watch through FOIA requests and subsequent lawsuits, the Obamas and Bidens have spent millions of taxpayer dollars on trips, beginning with the Obamas  much-publicized New York City  date night  in 2009 up through the president s most frequent golf outings and the first lady s Aspen ski jaunts.Judicial Watch uncovered an expensive combination of trips by the Obamas to Africa and Honolulu, which cost taxpayers $15,885,585.30 in flight expenses alone. The single largest prior known expense for accommodations was for Michelle Obama s side-trip to Dublin, Ireland, during the 2013 G-8 conference in Belfast, when she and her entourage booked 30 rooms at the five-star Shelbourne Hotel, and where she stayed in the 1500 square-foot Princess Grace suite at a cost of $3,500 a night.The total cost to taxpayers for the Obamas  Ireland trip was $7,921,638.66. To date, the known beyond-first-class travel expenses of the Obamas and Vice President Joe Biden exceed $57 million.In February, Michelle Obama took a weekend trip to Aspen, Colorado that cost taxpayers a pretty penny; $57,068.80 in travel expenses alone for the 7.4 hour-round trip flight, according to U.S.Air Force records.5) THE ULTIMATE 5-STAR, TAXPAYER FUNDED OBAMA FAMILY FREE-LOADER:Michelle Obama s mother, Marian Robinson, has been living like a queen ever since her daughter moved into the White House. Just take a look at all of the vacations you ve paid for her to take as an extended member of the First Family:Tagging along with the First Family doesn t come cheap, but of course, Robinson isn t the one footing the bill. That responsibility lands squarely on the shoulders of hard-working taxpayers like you and me.So why are we saddled with this extra expense at a time when the American taxpayer is already so burdened by an out-of-control national deficit? According to the Washington Examiner, it s because Robinson  cares for her grandchildren in the White House. Really???The Obama girls are certainly old enough to care for themselves. At the very least, they do not need a glorified nanny to accompany them around the world, costing millions of extra dollars in travel expenses. Malia is preparing to start college; she s definitely too old for a babysitter.Perhaps the Obamas are not breaking any laws by ensuring that Marian Robinson gets to live the high life during their years in the White House, but they are being incredibly insensitive, which honestly, we have come to expect from the self-indulgent family. After all, the First Lady is embarking on her third vacation in as many months in just a couple weeks.EVERYDAY AMERICAN:The average American retiree (or those 65 and older) is spending about $3,600 per month   or about $43,600 per year. Using the 4% rule, that would mean a nest egg of over $1 million would be needed to finance the  average  lifestyle.More and more Americans over the age of 65 are struggling with mounting debt levels, fueled primarily by mortgages and credit cards. The average debt held by senior citizens has ballooned to $50,000 in 2010, up 83% since 2001, according to Federal Reserve data crunched by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.Much of this is due to an increase in housing-related debt. Families headed by someone at least 60 years old had the largest increase in average mortgage debt, in terms of percentage, between 2000 and 2012, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.Of course, Marian doesn t have to worry about housing, food or 5-star vacation costs. She was quietly moved into the taxpayer funded White House in 2008 under the guise of a  nanny  for the Obama girls. She has somehow managed to continue living on the tax-payer dime without any media scrutiny. Even though the oldest Obama daughter is now in college and the youngest daughter is perfectly capable of brushing her own teeth, taxpayer funded granny has enjoyed a lifestyle that 99% of American seniors can only dream about. The king and Queen of extravagant vacations, free-loading grannies and golf and will be gone in 4 months and the only thing we ll have to show for it is a multi-million dollar tab.Work harder America the Obama s lived it up on our dime and now we have a massive tab to pay.Happy Labor Day!