An infographic from The Telegraph, based on data from the Congressional Research Service.
The cost of funding the former presidents will raise eyebrows, given that the hefty speaking fees they can command after leaving office and the well endowed presidential centres and foundations that facilitate many of their post-presidential activities.
The figures don't include security provided by the Secret Service, costs which are on a separate, undisclosed budget.I suppose I'm crabby because I'm in the process of preparing my income tax paperwork, but I don't understand how George W. Bush can spend $85,000 on telephone bills.
Dubya likes to make prank calls to Putin. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOf course it costs a lot to maintain Shrub Jr. A coke habit ain't cheap, you know!
ReplyDeleteI'm totally on board with providing lifetime Secret Service protection, but I don't understand why former Presidents are given money to maintain an office for a non-existent office. The presidency is an employment position, not a title of nobility.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this. Protection costs: OK. the rest NO.
DeleteConsidering that you have to be wealthy to even run for president now at all, and that the office guarantees millions in private income after a term is finished, then they should get nothing.
I don't concur with that idea that the presidency is not a title of nobility. Titles of nobility also had an administrative dimension in the past, and passed increasingly to symbolism over time. (Also, some aristocratic systems where even based on vote.) It may not seem obvious but, when you see people like Reagan and Walker on office, you know they are not running the show.
DeleteBut that presidency *should* be an employment position, that is very clear.
Well, perhaps the presidency has turned into a title of nobility. But such things are specifically prohibited by the US Constitution (Article 1, Section 9). We should take any opportunity to squash this weed before it grows any further.
DeleteMy phone runs 40 bucks a month, unlimited.
ReplyDeleteRoaming charges....Texas is a big place after all....
ReplyDeleteThis is a distraction. Nothing in the US budget matters if it is counted in M-millions. It it the B-billions that matter. Never mind ex-presidents, how about just one less B-2 bomber to protect us from the Soviet Union.
ReplyDelete"take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves"
Delete> [... ] but I don't understand how George W. Bush can spend $85,000 on telephone bills.
ReplyDeleteThat's an easy answer. Secured communications. High end government-type secured communications units run like $5000 for a stand alone unit. Figure that GW Bush would have one, since he is still consulting to the government and figure his Security unit has at least one (maybe 2 or more) since they coordinate his movement and security with Secret Service headquarters. The data and telecom requirements for these are also not cheap -- typically dedicated lines, which cost $500-1000/ month per line, at a guess
So .. 3 units = $15000, plus 3 dedicated secure voice/data lines at $1000/ month = 36,000 per year ... so that's $51,000 just in secured communications. Add in a small office phone system running say $2000/ month for digital phone, and some security overlay on that.. and you're up in the $70-80,000 range
"Figure that GW Bush would have one, since he is still consulting to the government."
DeleteFor what? Who in the current administration would he be calling to give advice to? Personally, I doubt that he was a primary decision-maker even when he was chief executive.
You're hanging up that "the government" = "the current administration" (aka, only the people in the White House).
DeleteSupposedly he's been called for background on world figures he dealt with in 8 years in office, and for background on certain programs and actions which were initiated under his Adminstration. It's not just the White House, but the State Department and others, and folks like Congress and Department of Commerce.
As for his role as a decision maker, without being partisan one way or the other -- I would recommend a Tony Blair's memoirs. As a UK Prime Minister, I think his perspective from outside the US political system is probably one of the best. He worked with 3 US Presidents and offers some interesting perspectives on each. I would recommend it, rather than just taking a partisan knee-jerk reaction.
And let me add one more thing. Presidents and ex-Presidents do appear to communicate. I can't recall where I first saw this, but recently some of the George HW Bush letters have been released. This was sent to Bill Clinton in reference to a speech made on MLK Day. I found it quite humorous. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/george-hw-bush-letters-clinton_n_2886233.html)
ReplyDeleteJanuary 23, 2008
Dear Bill
My heart went out to you when I saw you trying to keep your eyes open during an MLK Day sermon.
I could indeed "feel your pain." I have been there myself, more than once, I might add, and it physically hurt as I tried to keep my eyes open. I don't remember if I ever told you about the prestigious Scowcroft Award, given during my White House days to the person that fell most soundly asleep during a meeting. Points were added for "recovery":
A standard recovery gambit was to awake from a sound sleep, and start by nodding one's head in agreement to something just said in the meeting, something you had not heard at all. Writing something on a pad, anything at all, scored points. Good recoveries were awarded lots of points in determining the Scowcroft winner.
I remember when [Dick] Cheney won the award one time. We presented it to him at a nice dinner in the Rose Garden. Modest fellow that he is, he proclaimed himself unworthy, though his solid sleep in the Cabinet meeting had been witnessed by all assembled.
Scowcroft [Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor to George H.W. Bush], of course, was hopeless. He could sleep in any meeting at any time of day. Always pleasant when he woke up, he was a leader without peers in both the sleep itself and the recovery field.
Such was his leadership that the award was named for him. He never fully appreciated that. Anyway having been a Scowcroft Award recipient myself I send you now my total understanding and my warmest personal regards. As I heard that minister droning on I made a challenge for the trophy myself.
Your friend,
George