Cap Vacations

I’m in a capping mood lately.  Caps on gasoline, caps on vacations, let’s cap it all.

There is more than enough evidence to suggest that part of the reason the federal government was sluggish in responding to Katrina was because most of those in charge were on vacation at the time of the storm.  Some, namely the president, had been on vacation for weeks leading up to the day the storm made landfall.

“…Republicans said that the normally nimble White House political operation had fallen short in part because the president and his aides were scattered outside Washington on vacation, leaving no one obviously in charge at a time of great disruption,” reports the NY Times, the Washington Post and many other sources.

I don’t think it’s any secret given Cindy Sheehan let the whole world know Bush decided to take 1/3 of the summer off and relax at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.  Despite an ongoing war in Iraq with no end in sight and that the deadline for the Iraqi constitution fell right in the middle of Bush’s retreat, Bush still thought it was a good time for a bicycle ride.

Now I know that it’s entirely impossible to plan one’s vacation time around a hurricane.  I understand Bush had no clue that Katrina was coming or the devastation that would follow.  I’m not even hinting at that.  The situation in Iraq, however, Bush was well aware of-- okay maybe not, maybe that’s a stretch.  But it’s obvious his vacations are taking a toll on this country.

Because of the apparent complexity and the consequences that a vacationing president can levy on the nation, I think it is fair that Congress mandate some sort of limit on presidential vacations.

Think about it.  If my numbers are correct, Bush has spent somewhere around 340 days on vacation in the last 5 years.  That’s almost an entire year of his 5 spent on vacation.  How is that even possible?  Reagan who was ancient during his tenure can’t even match that.  

So here it is, a bill in Congress that limits a president’s vacation time to 21 days for one work year, which is still more than most jobs.  That equals out to 84 vacation days for one four year term.  I’d apply for that job any day.

If it is acceptable for a president to spend almost a quarter of his entire presidency on vacation then I’m wrong here.  It’s all about accountability, and despite what those in Washington want us to believe, we are the ones that do the finger pointing.  My employer has a limit on how many vacation days I can take, and after all, we are Bush’s employer.  I think it’s a start.