Michelle Obama's 17th Vacation - This Time in Vail.

That's where the old, really big money goes. It's hard to get there unless you have a private jet.

Madame First Lady and First Daughters did not get to Colorado on their own dime. The cost of jetting them around the word would break the Obama piggy bank (despite their multi-million dollar net worth). I also have a feeling that they are not paying their full freight when they stay at resorts owned by campaign contributors just as I don’t pay my friends when I stay at their place. So the statement that “personal expenses” are being paid by the Obamas is not very meaningful unless you show us the bill. If you want to accept a White House handout as the final word on the cost of this – and Christmas in Hawaii, last summer at Martha’s Vineyard, the jaunt to Spain, taking Air Force one for a date in NY City, you get the impression that the White House is a dump that Michelle and the kids can’t wait to leave.

This trip is not an isolated incident but a series of in-your-face examples of Marie Antoinette extravagance when people back home are out of work or, if they are lucky, living paycheck to paycheck while it’s party time for the Obamas.

One enterprising commenter at Althouse made a little list:

-- President’s Day 2012, Michelle and the first daughters in Aspen, Colorado to ski.
-- Christmas 2011, the first family in Hawaii for an extended vacation.
-- Summer 2011, in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., for the annual beach break.
-- June 2011, the first lady, her mother and daughters traveled to South Africa and Botswana.
-- President’s Day 2011, the first lady and first daughters travel to Vail to ski.
-- Christmas 2010, in Hawaii.
-- August 2010, the first family traveled to Panama City Beach, Fla., for some sun and fun at the beach.
-- August 2010, Obama spent the weekend alone in Chicago for his 49th birthday bash.
-- August 2010, the first lady and daughter Sasha traveled to Spain for a mother-daughter vacation.
-- August 2010, summer vacation again at Martha’s Vineyard.
-- July 2010, the first family went to Mount Desert Island, Maine.
-- May 2010, the first family had a four-day trip to Chicago.
-- March 2010, first lady and daughter spend Spring Break in New York City.
-- Christmas 2009, Hawaii again for the annual break.
-- August 2009, at Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon for a short vacation.
-- August 2009, their first summer vacation as first family at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.