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March 11, 2010, 6:26 pm

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Timing of Obama Indonesia Trip Questioned

By SHERYL STOLBERG

With President Obama’s health care bill hanging in the balance, the White House is facing intensifying questions about whether Mr. Obama should take his planned trip to Indonesia and Australia next week.

The visit, which has been timed to coincide with spring break for the Obama daughters, Malia and Sasha, is something of a homecoming for Mr. Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia. The trip is unusual, experts say, in that there is no economic summit or other multinational gathering for the president to attend.

Instead, Mr. Obama plans to meet with the leaders of the two countries, and also intends to show his family a bit of his past. The White House says the trip will send a powerful message to Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, and to Australia, a major trading partner.

Continues @ The Caucus blog of NY Times

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Sure sounds like a family vacation... at taxpayers' expense!   <-- strike that!


CORRECTION:  Now, the trip is postponed by 3 days, and wife and children are not going.

-- Edited by Sanders on Friday 12th of March 2010 12:07:14 PM