Dear President Obama: I've been good this year; for supper tonight, as a special treat, can I eat all I want?

[This article appeared in the St Paul Pioneer Press, page 4a, with headline "Air Force One may need a breather"]

WASHINGTON -- With his visit to Denmark to pitch Chicago as the site for the 2016 Summer Olympics, President Barack Obama has visited more countries in his first year in office than any other president.
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Obama will add more before his first year anniversary. He'll visit China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea next month.
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The costs of the trips -- borne by taxpayers -- are difficult to measure, but they're expensive. When the president uses the familiar blue-and-white reconfigured 747 as Air Force One, it costs $100,219 an hour to operate, according to the Air Force. And that's just the president's plane.

There also are cargo planes, used to fly in armored limousines, helicopters, staff and other equipment, as well as the Secret Service. A single Air Force C-17 cargo jet, for example, costs $6,960 an hour, according to the Congressional Research Service.

A total of 77 other aircraft were used on one multicountry trip to Asia by former President Bill Clinton in 2000, according to the Air Force Times. ABC News at the time estimated the cost of that trip at $50 million.

The totals also don't count the costs of first lady Michelle Obama's trips when she flies abroad.

The White House wouldn't comment on costs.

May '08: Obama camp spies endgame in Oregon

Pitching his message to Oregon's environmentally-conscious voters, Obama called on the United States to "lead by example" on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which could be exported to developing countries.

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.

"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.