The guy had 70 vacation days in the first three years of his presidency. That amounts to less than a month's vacation per year. Most everyone who works at an executive level gets more vacation than that.
However, his vacations are very costly. And rightly so. He takes staff with him, and the government continues to function. He continues to work. Do you believe that there is a single day on his vacation when he does absolutely nothing involving his Presidency? I agree that it is unfortunate that it costs so much, but do you think the difference in having the President operating in Washington and the President operating in Hawaii is that great? Reduce the amount spent in Washington while he's away, it helps offset somewhat.
This is just the way it works. He's President. They get vacations, too. But if you think these vacations are the same as Presidential vacations were in the 60s and 70s, you're just being silly. The whole office goes with him. I don't begrudge him vacation days, nor do I mind paying taxes. Want to be a great nation? There's a cost that goes along with it.
And, for the record, even though Bush had (I believe) more vacation days than any other President in history, I don't begrudge him those, either. Often, on his "vacations," he would have foreign diplomats join him, and things like that. Anyone making an issue out of this is merely out of touch.
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