Obama's vacation posted Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 @ 10:11 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  President Obama is under intense criticism over his nine-day vacation at Martha's Vineyard, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts known as a summer colony for the affluent. Though he and his family currently are tied up vacationing with the wealthy these days, Obama says he will roll out a new economic plan after Labor Day to jump start the U.S. economy. It is expected to call for the Congress to embrace a hodge-podge of more government spending and deficit reduction, though we have never understood how the federal government can do both at the same time. Yet, in time, we'll learn the details – assuming there will be any – of Obama's latest proposal to lift the nation out of the worst economic cycle since the Great Depression. We hope it is an improvement over the proposals he and his administration have advanced thus far in Obama's term. We aren't holding our breath, though. We aren't holding our breath because we're afraid Obama is stubbornly convinced more government spending and higher taxes on the backs of the so-called wealthy represent a winning combination to improve the economic wellbeing of all Americans. And that's nonsense. Unfortunately, nonsense is all Obama seems capable of offering or proposing. We aren't alone in feeling that way, evidenced by a recent Gallup poll, which told us more than 70 percent of all adults in the United States disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy. Critics on the left and right say Obama should have passed on taking a vacation this summer. They say he should spend more time in Washington working to improve the economy. There is some validity to their argument in light of the nation's unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent. Not to be interpreted as a defense of Obama, but a modern-day president never truly enjoys a vacation. The office and the responsibilities that accompany it follow a president wherever he goes. There is very little down time. In politics, though, perception is reality. The perception is Obama is so out of touch with the American people that no one will notice if he takes time away from the office to play golf and break bread with the super wealthy on one of the most affluent islands in the country. The reality of it all is Obama's presidency is an utter failure, and the nation would be much better off if the American people gave him the green light to take a permanent vacation when they cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential race.