Bus tour? Who's he trying to kid?

  So Obama is on a bus tour this week for three days, apparently to listen to the people. He needs to get out of Washington, his handlers say, which is a standard stump speech line for him.
  But he's claiming that the bus tour isn't political in nature, following the Republicans' hubbub in Iowa, so he's charging the taxpayers for the trip, as if he couldn't talk to a few folks cheaper some place else.  
  Or maybe he could talk to a few folks in a setting that isn't prescribed and rearranged by his handlers. You know, see what people really think.
  Even the press is tacitly acknowledging that the trip is political, calling it a "counteroffensive" and "not coincidental." Here, from CBS News:

President Barack Obama launches a political counteroffensive this week, weighed down by wilting support among some of his most ardent backers, a stunted economy and a daily bashing from the slew of Republicans campaigning for his job.

[SNIP] So it is not coincidental that Obama's trip is occurring now. It is designed to dilute the buzz emanating from the Midwest after Republicans gathered in Iowa over the weekend for a first test of the party's White House candidates.  

  From CNS, who notes that many of Obama's travels for fresh air outside Washington just happen to be in swing states, which perhaps indicates that the man who was supposed to be the great UNITER is interested in the opinions of those who might vote for him but uninterested in those who won't vote for him. 
  So sad for those who will vote for him stuck in red states.
CNS:

 President Barack Obama’s upcoming bus tour through the Midwest states typically viewed as swing states during presidential election years will be paid for by the taxpayers, the White House says 

  This has been widely reported, of course, so we're not breaking any new ground by mentioning it.
  But the point is this.
  Why? Why would Obama stick his finger in the face of the electorate now, when his approval rating is so low and he is facing intense scrutiny regarding his problems with money and spending?
  Again, where are his handlers?
  The optics are terrible and, once again, there seems to be a complete lack of concern about optics. A narcissistic, arrogant lack of concern.
  An excellent article by Bret Stephens at the WSJ called, "Is Obama Smart?" sums up tidily what the problem at 1600 Pennsylvania:

Then there is Mr. Obama as political tactician. He makes predictions that prove false. He makes promises he cannot honor. He raises expectations he cannot meet. He reneges on commitments made in private. He surrenders positions staked in public. He is absent from issues in which he has a duty to be involved. He is overbearing when he ought to be absent. At the height of the financial panic of 1907, Teddy Roosevelt, who had done much to bring the panic about by inveighing against big business, at least had the good sense to stick to his bear hunt and let J.P. Morgan sort things out. Not so this president, who puts a new twist on an old put-down: Every time he opens his mouth, he subtracts from the sum total of financial capital.

   With more squawking from progressives about Obama's performance and super-secret anonymous maybe true-maybe not reports of Dems' unhappiness with Obama, he seems to be going rogue, even against his own party's interests:

President Obama walked out on the Democrats.  He threatened to veto them.  A veto I told you was complete bullshit.  And what did he do – he signed whatever they sent him.  Just like I said he would.  And after the fact – days after the fact, is when the reports finally came out that Obama left a meeting with the Democratic and Republican leadership, and that he was threatening to veto what they were putting together.  I was able to tell you what happened, told you what happened, because I got it from the room. 

  No, this so-called bus tour, which must be carefully staged, just like the highly offensive photo op of Obama saluting, however badly, the coffins of returning fallen Seals, is a raised middle finger to the taxpayers of this country. 

  Everyone knows that this is a campaign event, just as everyone knows that Michelle's numerous trips jetting around the world at taxpayer expense is paid for by taxpayers' dollars, of which the progressive cannot get enough.

  So cough up more dough, taxpayers. It now takes until August 12 to pay all the taxes our governments heap on us.

  But, hey, they need more of your dough.

  Obama's got a few buses he needs to get on the road and, for him, money's not a problem.

Obama's Vineyard VacationWill Cost Taxpayers Millions