PRESUMABLY THE MULTIMILLIONAIRE IS PAYING FOR THAT VACATION, NOT US TAXPAYERS?:

Timing of Obama Indonesia Trip Questioned (SHERYL STOLBERG, 3/12/10, NY Times)

With President Obama’s health care bill hanging in the balance, the White House is facing intensifying questions about whether Mr. Obama should take his planned trip to Indonesia and Australia next week.

The visit, which has been timed to coincide with spring break for the Obama daughters, Malia and Sasha, is something of a homecoming for Mr. Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia. The trip is unusual, experts say, in that there is no economic summit or other multinational gathering for the president to attend.

Instead, Mr. Obama plans to meet with the leaders of the two countries, and also intends to show his family a bit of his past.

Typically, the Beltway thinks the story is that he's leaving town before the bill passes, when what will bother America is the trip itself.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 12, 2010 6:48 AM