President Obama is living in a different world other than the normal everyday person. Imagine if you will a first time lottery winner is most likely to splurge and go bankrupt because it's what was missing in his life. I suppose it's a transference or substitution of a father figure that was missing, therefore fatherly discipline.
There is a definite psychological component in tatters here. It's all wanting to please a father who isn't there to guide him.