Barack Obama has spent more than twice the amount of time playing golf and on vacation as he has on fixing the economy, according to a watchdog study.
The Government Accountability Institute study says that since Obama became president in 2009, he has spent more than 976 hours playing golf or on vacation — and just 474 hours on “economic meetings.”
The GAI studied presidential diaries and said it counted anything remotely associated with economic activity in the figures for economic meetings, in an effort to be fair to the president. It also allowed four hours for a day’s golf, as noted in the diaries.
GAI President Peter Schweizer said his organization did not intend to interpret the results — it merely collated the data and let others decide for themselves what the figures meant.
The GAI report said that Obama spent 27 days on the golf course in 2009, 30 in 2010, 34 in 2011 but just 18 in 2012. So far this year, he’s played six times.
Obama’s golf handicap has never been publicly revealed by the White House, although rumor has it that it’s 16 — making him a solid amateur player.
Analysts say his athletic build means he could hit a tee shot 250 yards with coaching — although he “chicken wings” it when he hits the ball, producing a lot of slices off the tee.
