THE "IT'S NOT A POLITICAL BUS TOUR," POLITICAL BUS TOUR

Mr. Obama seems to be unable to tell the truth. He is on a "bus tour" that he claims is not a campaign tour. C'mon, Mr. O., the American people are not as stupid as you'd like to think we are. You are touring four "battleground" Midwest states, "swing states" that you know are independent and could vote either way in 2012. But nothing new here. USA Today reported on July 17 that half of the travels Mr. O. made to 40 states in the last 2.5 years were to "swing states." These states will likely determine the winner of the presidential race in 2012. Mr. O stated today in one of his non-campaign campaign speeches, "I know it's not election season yet, but..." That sure sounds like campaigning to me.

Who does he blame for the current U.S. economy and the S & P downgrade of our credit rating? Well, he blamed the Japan earthquake, he blamed the Arab Spring unrest, he blamed the Republicans for acting badly, and he blamed a host of other things. He didn't, however, point the finger back at His Highness, where the finger pointing truly belongs.

Policies in place for incumbent presidents running for re-election are based on legal opinions from the DOJ and FEC which say that "taxpayers should cover the cost of official presidential travel, while travel relating to the campaign will be reimbursed to the government through campaign funds." There's plenty of campaign money already in Obama's coffers. He shouldn't get away with sucking up taxpayer funds that taxpayers don't have. Remember our 9.2% unemployment rate, our miserable economic growth, gyrating financial markets, our credit down grade, our HUGE national debt? But Mr. O. sees nothing wrong with stealing public money for campaigning, and Chicago politics prevail again.

Did he have any new ideas in his speeches today? Well, he trumpeted more spending on "infrastructure" to put people back to work. Something like his "shovel ready jobs" he promoted in 2008. But wait, I seem to recall his stating recently that the 2008 "shovel ready jobs weren't as shovel ready as we thought." New idea? No, just more of the same old tax and spend.

You will probably see him as he enters and exits the shiny new buses he and his entourage are traveling in. Do you know what they cost? $1.1 million dollars EACH. They were newly purchased by the Secret Service for the purpose of "busing" the president around on his non-campaign bus tour. I can hardly wait until the total cost of his "meeting with Americans" trip is tallied, that we will collectively pay for: hotels, food, transportation, gasoline for 150 vehicles, choppers, security at approximately $1 million per day, and a myriad of other costs. He has no remorse or shame.

It appears to me that he is always campaigning and never governing. He promises great unity (remember, he said he would unite the country), but he promotes partisanship by blaming everyone and everything for his failures.

What's he going to do when he returns to Washington? The Obama family will be leaving for a 10 day vacation to Martha's Vineyard. Well, thank God it's not some foreign country which would cost us more millions. But I, for one, am sick of paying for his four year vacation. But on the other hand, maybe it's good that's he's not in Washington doing yet more damage.