Politics

Study: Obama spends more time on vacation than in economic meetings

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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President Barack Obama has spent more time hitting the links and vacationing than attending meetings about the economy, according to a study released by a conservative government-watchdog group.

Using the official White House calendar and media reports, a new report from the Government Accountability Institute says Obama has spent 474.4 hours in economic meetings. That would be 3.6 percent of his presidency, they estimated.

Meanwhile, the group says Obama has played 115 rounds of golf and spent 86 days on vacation, equaling an estimated 976 hours.

The study looked at 1,532 days of Obama’s presidency, from his inauguration until March 31, 2013.

The report states it used “generally wide parameters” in determining what constituted an economic meeting. They counted meetings with former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, his daily economic briefings and meetings with Democratic members of the House Ways and Means 
Committee, among other gatherings.

As for estimating leisure time, the group estimated that it takes four hours to play a round of golf. They estimated that a vacation day equaled six hours of vacation.

Government Accountability Institute is led by author Peter Schweizer.

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