President Obama has been playing golf at a furious pace this year – already heading out more times than during any year of his presidency – but the government shutdown raises the prospect that his favorite leisure activity is about to be suspended.
It’s unclear how a presidential golf outing could be justified as “essential,” which is the general standard for government activities that continue during the shutdown.
When Obama is in Washington, he plays at one of two publicly funded courses – either the links at Andrews Air Force Base or at Fort Belvoir. His rounds are paid for out of the public kitty.
What’s more, the public must pay for the nearly half hour trip by the large motorcade that shuttles the president to his golf destination, costs that involve the logistics of the movement as well as staff and Secret Service who must accompany Obama.
But beyond the actual costs, a golf excursion by Obama when the government is supposedly trimming costs and while furloughed federal workers are going without pay would be extremely bad public relations for a president waging a shutdown public opinion war against Republicans.
Obama generally plays every Saturday, most recently this past Saturdaywhen he went out even as the government headed toward a shutdown. It was the 35th time he has played this year, eclipsing his 2011 record of 34 outings.
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2 Responses
Oh, what a marvelous leader!! I’m sure he must play golf, it’s urgent for the good of the country, don’t you see.
It is essential that the commander in chief have an opportunity to relax and unwind so the golf outings are clearly within the scope of activities exempt from the shutdown. Also, both the Andrews and Belvoir courses have been authorized to keep their grounds crews at work since the grass must we watered and the leaves kept off the fairways or the cost of repairing the grounds would be prohibitive