Obama family trip cancelled over budget deadlock
Add another victim to a looming federal government shutdown – a surprise Obama family outing to Williamsburg in Virginia, which was postponed on Friday after budget negotiations failed to break their deadlock.
The weekend get-away to the historically preserved 18th century colonial town had been kept under wraps, but was almost immediately in doubt after word of the trip trickled out.
Republicans and Democrats made little headway in budget talks, despite successive summons to the White House by President Barack Obama to move things along, and by Friday afternoon a shutdown looked increasingly unavoidable.
“The President will remain in Washington, D.C. this weekend as he continues to work with congressional leaders to reach an agreement on the budget,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “The First Family’s trip to Williamsburg has been postponed.”
Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Obama and family at White House)
Obama girls get their own presidential lecture on fiscal responsibility
Just because they live in the White House doesn’t mean they can’t earn a little pocket money.
President Barack Obama says his daughters get an allowance and are nearing an age when they can earn some working capital by babystitting.
(We’re thinking the client’s child would be among the most protected on the planet because the babysitters come with their own bodyguards).
Obama was asked on ABC’S “Good Morning America” what the First Parents are teaching their daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, 9, about money.
“What I’m doing now with Malia and Sasha is … they’re getting an allowance. They’re starting to get old enough where they may be able to earn some money babysitting. They’ve got their own savings accounts,” Obama said in the ABC interview.
(Our subsequent efforts to unearth how much allowance the Obama girls get have so far come up empty handed).
“And what I’m trying to explain to them are basic concepts about savings, about interest, about being able to use the math skills that they’re learning in school to figure out that if they keep $100 in their bank account at 2 or 3 percent interest for six months, this is how much money they’re going to have at the end of it,” Obama said.
For parents who are looking for a simple, structured way to teach their kids, tweens, and teens good personal finance habits and a solid work ethic, check out the growing array of online apps in this area. To be balanced (since I founded one 
, I’d suggest checking out three common ones – FamZoo, ThreeJars, and Zefty.
Obama Hawaiian Vacation: Beach Day
If it’s Sunday in Hawaii, it must be beach day. Actually if it’s any day in Hawaii, it’s beach day.
But for President Barack Obama Sunday was the first day for a real beach outing since he arrived in Kailua for the presidential Christmas break last Thursday.
Obama and family ventured out to Pyramid Rock Beach on a nearby Marine Corps base where the president stopped briefly yesterday we imagine to scope out the waves considering that Obama is known to locals as a more than adequate bodysurfer.
The traveling press has had no sighting of the president so far today and is waiting at the golf course, so no chance of getting any presidential beach shots to rival the photo from last year (you know the one that I mean).
Aside from athletic pursuits that included a gym workout and basketball game in the morning, Obama had security briefings on the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a passenger plane on Christmas Day and then on an incident today of an ill Nigerian passenger on the same flight, different day (as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction).
Who knows what the rest of the day will bring. It’s only noon in Hawaii, we’ve been following the president since 6:30 a.m., and haven’t seen him yet today….
The photo was taken Saturday when Obama briefly stopped to check out the beach.
Welcome back to Kailua, Mr. President and the Obama Ohana. I hope the weather improves for the rest of your visit. We are proud you want to spend your holiday with us. Aloha.
Just say “Bo” – Obama White House unveils first dog
The Obama White House on Sunday unveiled the first family’s new pet, a 6-month-old male Portuguese Water Dog named Bo. The black-and-white, curly-haired Bo was a gift to Obama daughters Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, from Senator Ted Kennedy and will take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave on Tuesday. President Barack Obama had promised his daughters a new puppy during his campaign for the White House. In January, he told reporters the front-runner breeds were a Portuguese Water Dog and a Labradoodle. The Web site of Dog Breed Info Center describes the Portuguese Water Dog as a hardy, muscular, medium-sized dog that grows to about 20-22 inches (51-56 cm) tall and is “lively but sensible, and loyal.” “Bear in mind that this extremely intelligent dog will take liberties if it feels it is stronger-minded than its owners,” the center said. “This breed may out-think its owner!” Online advertisements by U.S. and Canadian breeders quote prices for Portuguese Water Dogs at between $2000 and $2900. The water-loving breed gets its name from its long history of helping Portuguese fisherman herd and catch fish, retrieve tackle, and carry messages between ships.
For more Reuters political news, click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Pete Souza-The White House/Handout – Bo, a 6-month-old male Portuguese Water Dog, is seen in this White House photograph released April 12, 2009.
Welcome to the first family Mr.Bo,my gosh,you are so lovely.Enjoy the White House and we love Sacha and malia from all of us here in The Netherlands,Europe.
Did you break something at the White House?
Somebody did. And Michelle Obama knows who you are.
Talking in a television interview about how her family is adjusting to life in the White House, the first lady said her young daughters Sasha and Malia had been behaving well in the grand house filled with antiques and historic artifacts.
“We’ve had some guests who’ve broken some things but not the kids,” she said with a laugh in the interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America”. “And they know who they are.”
Obama said her daughters have “done their popping” in to see their dad at work in the Oval Office and have generally adjusted well to their new life in Washington.
“They’re doing great. And I think they’re doing great because I’ve been able to strike a balance,” she said. “I still have time to be home for homework. And to make sure I’m there before they leave and to go to their parent-teacher conferences.”
The first lady said after the grueling, two-year campaign it was nice to have the whole family together for dinner every night at the White House.
“There’s time to breathe a little bit, at least as a family,” she said. “We’re breathing in a way that we haven’t breathed in a long time. And it feels good.”
Any minority voter that votes for any republican is clearly an uninformed voter that needs to read the history of the party.
- Posted by Richard Daly
Democrats have their share of historic bigotry too. In fact a larger percentage of democrats were against passage of the civil rights act of 1964 than republicans.
It seems the very folks who claim ‘racism’ any time Obama is criticized are so fixated on skin color, they can’t see beyond their own myopic biases. Believe it or not, some people are a lot more concerned about a person’s ideology than just the color of his skin!
