AGAIN? – AT 7:32 P.M. ET:  We know that our readers like to be kept informed about the latest trends in vacations.  Consider this, for your future plans of course:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is taking his own advice and taking his family to the Gulf Coast on vacation next month, something he and first lady Michelle Obama have been urging others to do to help the area's suffering economy.

Wait, wait, wait.  Didn't the supreme leader just come back from a vacation in Maine?  And then there was the vacation in...?  Okay, there's no contract that spells out the presidential vacation allowance, but this president has absolutely abused the vacation privilege.  A presidential vacation isn't just a week off here and there, with a burning of frequent-flier miles.  It involves vast public expense, Air Force One, and stuff like that.  Doesn't Obama like the job?

The White House said the Obamas will visit an undisclosed section of Florida's coast the weekend of Aug. 14.

Obama has made four trips to the Gulf region, including an overnight stay, since an underwater well failed in April and began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. First lady Michelle Obama was scheduled to make her second visit the area on Friday.

On their trips to the region, both the president and Mrs. Obama have made a point of encouraging people to visit Gulf Coast beaches that are open and oil-free to help boost an area economy battered by the sharp decline in tourism that followed the spill.

"One of the best ways that fellow Americans can help is to come on down here and spend some money," Mrs. Obama said this month in Panama City Beach, Fla., where she strolled barefoot in the sand and bought a cup of chocolate ice cream.

Uh, the Maine vacation was unnecessary.  Shoulda gone to the Gulf Coast, and stayed awhile.

But thanks for the ice cream purchase.  The tax on that will go a long way toward eroding that multi-trillion-dollar debt.

July 22, 2010