The George W. Bush Paid Vacation Act

[Bob]

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TO: Democratic Members of the House of Representatives
FR: The People

I humbly request that you propose legislation that will entitle all full-time workers in the United States to five weeks of paid vacation time.

George W. Bush has taken a five week vacation, the longest Presidential vacation in 36 years and the 49th of his Presidency. President George W. Bush has spent 20% of his terms in office on vacation. The country is at war.

If the President of the United States is indeed one of our peers, hard-working American citizens should be entitled to as much vacation as our Chief Executive.

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[sws4420]

Well, he still meets with his advisors everyday while on 'vacation'. He still deals with his day-to-day Presidential duties while on 'vacation'. So it's sort of like working from home, in a sense.


According to an August 2003 article in the Washington Post, President Bush has spent all or part of 166 days during his presidency at his Crawford, Texas, ranch or en route. Add the time spent at or en route to the presidential retreat of Camp David and at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Bush has taken 250 days off as of August 2003. That's 27% of his presidency spent on vacation. Although to be fair, much of this time is classified as a "working vacation."

Bush isn't the first president to get away from his work. George Bush Sr. took all or part of 543 vacation days at Camp David and in Kennebunkport. Ronald Reagan spent 335 days at or en route to his Santa Barbara, California, ranch during his eight years in office. Of recent presidents, Jimmy Carter took the least days off -- only 79 days, which he usually spent at his home in Georgia. That's less than three weeks a year, which is closer to the average American's paid time off of 13 days per year.

What about Clinton? As of December 1999, President Bill Clinton had spent only 152 days on holiday during his two terms, according to CBS News. A former staffer noted Clinton was such a workaholic that "it almost killed Clinton to take one-week vacations during August." In 2000, Clinton cut his summer vacation short to just three days, so he and his wife could concentrate on her Senate race and fundraising for Democrats. While we couldn't find the exact tally for Clinton's last year in office, it's reasonable to expect he didn't increase his vacation rate. And in barely three years in office, George W. Bush has already taken more vacation than Clinton did in seven years.

[sws4420]

I'd probably do the same thing.


At the ranch, White House officials say, Bush continues to receive daily national security briefings, sign documents, hold teleconferences with aides and military commanders, and even meet with foreign leaders.


"The Oval Office is wherever the president of the United States is," said Kenneth Duberstein, who was Reagan's last White House chief of staff. "With the communications being what they are, the president can communicate instantly with whomever he wants anywhere in the world."

Bush will not return to the White House until after Labor Day, but his staff has peppered his schedule with events to dispel any impression that he is not on duty. He will visit at least seven states, mostly with quick day trips, . He played host to President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia at the ranch Thursday.

At some point, Bush said Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will visit for consultations. "I have a busy couple of weeks down there," Bush said.