Report: Bush's $80K phone bill

[kpete]

Source: Politico

..............................

George W. Bush may have raked in $15 million from speeches alone in 2010, but he still expensed $1.3 million to taxpayers, including $80,000 in phone bills, ABC News’s Jonathan Karl reported in “Spinners and Winners.” And Bill Clinton also made it big on the speech circuit — bringing in $10 million — and billed more than $1 million in expenses to taxpayers. Jimmy Carter, meanwhile, received over half a million in expenses, including $15,000 for postage, and taxpayers also paid $830,000 for George H.W. Bush.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) is proposing a bill to end taxpayers’ funding expenses for any ex-president who brings in more than $400,000 per year. Under his proposal, presidents would receive a $200,000 annual pension and $200,000 in annual expenses if they make less than that combined, ABC News reported.

“Look, presidents should get a compensation package. They should get a retirement, and they should get some expenses,” Chaffetz told Karl. “But if they’re going to go out on the trail, and they’re going to give speeches, write books and make money, then there comes a point where you say, OK, the taxpayer shouldn’t be responsible for also footing the bill for the office expenses, and the telephone, and paper, and the personnel to man those offices.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76033.html#ixzz1uIOYDklz

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76033.html

[aquart]

1. Yeah.

[Suji to Seoul]

2. I feel dirty. In a small way, I agree with the proposed bill

ex-president or not. if you make 10 or 15 million a year, pay your own damn phone.

[BlueIris]

43. Same.

And I don't feel good about it.

[SoutherDem]

3. 80K?

Where was he calling? Mars?

[grasswire]

5. yeah, hasn't he heard about unlimited long distance?

Maybe the bill is for all of the people who work at the presidential library too.

[snooper2]

6. He probably has a company doing robo calls for library donations and what not..

80K could rack up pretty quick...

[Joe Bacon]

36. He was probably calling 900 numbers.

Yes, Bush would be that stupid!

[Journeyman]

4. No President should die in poverty, but they shouldn't they live as Kings, either . . .

This sounds like a good approach.

[closeupready]

20. But millions of Americans should?

Including many of whom were hardworking and honest throughout their entire lives?

Most of whom probably never lied under oath?

[xtraxritical]

7. These expenses are peanuts

compared to what the taxpayers are paying for Secret Service protection for the ex Presidents.

[brendan120678]

16. I believe Clinton is the last president who will receive lifetime...

SS protection. If I recall, there was a bill passed during his second term that all future Presidents will only receive the SS protection for up to 10 years beyond when they leave office.

[Zen Democrat]

17. So GWB will lose SS protection in January 2019?

I can't believe he would let that happen. He'll never be able to leave his house.

[closeupready]

21. Yes, he will (some time around then). We discussed this here

during his second term.

He's plenty rich that he can afford his own security detail.

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Well he should be in the Hague by then and won't need SS

[awoke_in_2003]

30. And the Cleveland Browns...

might win the Super Bowl this year.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. And The Chiefs in 2014!

LOL

[awoke_in_2003]

35. The Chiefs...

may be more likely

[Turbineguy]

8. It's a case of proportion.

While he was prez he cost us about 2 trillion per year. 1.3 million by comparison is a rounding error. No matter what Bush will always be a cost, never a benefit.

[24601]

14. Not remotely close. That would be $16 Trillion over 8 years. From the US Treasury online,

National Debt 31 Jan 2001 was $5.716 Trillion. On 31 Jan 2009, it was $10.632 Trillion. Total increase over 8 years was $4.916 Trillion for an average of $0.614 Trillion per year.

On 31 Jan 2012 the National Debt was $15.356 Trillion for a three year increase of 4.724 Trillion or an annual increase of 1.575 Trillion.

Run the numbers yourself: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/mspd.htm

You can Blame Bush for lots of things, but not for the debt you said.

[JDPriestly]

22. A lot of the increased debt is interest on the debt GWB accrued.

We also have a serious problem because in this Bush recession, incomes are down for middle-class taxpayers which means tax revenues are down. And of course, the rich got the Bush tax cuts.

Failure to blame Bush for our fiscal mess is wrong.

The Bush administration could have lessened, perhaps prevented our current recession if they a) had not fought wars without raising taxes and b) enforced securities and lending laws adequately -- as least adequately enough to end the fraud that was ubiquitous during the Bush regime.

[Turbineguy]

28. The numbers work

if you add in the rise in oil prices due to Bush's policies. And actually, I'm being generous.

[24601]

38. Nice joke, I'm laughing. For all of Bush's faults,and there are plenty, inhibiting oil production

was never one of them.

[plantwomyn]

32. In Jan 2009

Obama may have taken office but the country dealt with another whole year under a Bush budget. In fact, you shouldn't be giving the good numbers from 2001 to Bush. That was Clinton's budget.

[24601]

37. If you adjust the numbers adding a year on each end of the timeline, Bush's annual increase was

$0.820 (T) and President Obama's was $1.539 (T).

But the better measure is to look at the numbers vis a vis control of Congress since they have to vote the appropriations. Presidents still accept or reject the bills and aren't absolved.

Those numbers are pure ugly. 1996-2010 avg debt increase was $0.521 (T). 2010-2012 avg increase was $1.539 (T), almost three times larger.

The numbers are the numbers.

[PavePusher]

9. I don't think any former legislater or president should get any stipend after leaving office.

They are all members of the 1% by the time they leave (if they weren't when they got there), and if not, they can go out and get one of those jobs they claim to have "created".

[progressoid]

10. Why the fuck are we paying any of their expenses?

Unless it is State related, I can't see any reason they should get anything other than a pension and Secret Service detail.

Of course aren't Denny Hastert and others doing the same?

[LynneSin]

11. My gawd who is his cell phone plan with?

He could get one of those unlimited call plans and it would only run the tax payers like $200 a month

[shraby]

12. He could also get the cable telephone and pay 30.00 per month and have all the calls he'd

ever want with no extra.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Hey Dubya - I got one word

Vonage

[loudsue]

13. No shit? They also need to look at what we're paying congresscritters,

and there needs to be an amendment to the constitution about how many raises and benefits they are allowed to vote THEMSELVES. If they put the vote on a november election every 4 years, and WE, THE PEOPLE vote them a raise and/or benefits package, then that would probably be more equitable.

[harun]

15. I don't consider them accounting for legitamite expenses as "us paying".

If people don't like it, change the bullshit tax laws. There are FAR FAR worse offenders than ex-pres's.

[treestar]

44. The article says "billed" but if they are simply writing it off

Then yes, this is ridiculous.

[RevStPatrick]

18. I don't have a big problem with this.

A little problem, maybe, but not a big problem.

When someone gets elected president, he or she instantly becomes the most famous person on the planet. That's not an easy thing to deal with, and it doesn't stop once they leave office. And we pay them what, $400,000 a year? If that person were the CEO of a large corporation, their annual compensation would run into the 10's of millions of dollars. I think it's OK to pick up some of their post-presidency expenses.

Now I also think it's OK to limit the expenses the taxpayers will cover if that person makes huge amounts of money. But I don't know what the cutoff should be.

And I do think that ex-presidents should receive secret service protection for life, if they choose.

[usrname]

19. Hasn't he heard of Skype?

And you can have video communication as well.

[kentauros]

31. Maybe he has (and does use it)

and the $80,000 was for Internet porn

[rug]

23. Give him a break, it takes him longer.

[arikara]

39. I forgot all about some of those pictures of the chimp

And there's even a framed photo of his poodle behind him.

[lonestarnot]

40. Oh fuck!

[Scuba]

26. Barbara: "Hello." George: "Mommy, it's me."

[starroute]

27. Part of the problem is that the life expectancy for ex-presidents has sky-rocketed

Teddy Roosevelt lived not quite 10 years after leaving office.
William Howard Taft lived another 17 years.
Woodrow Wilson lived less than 3 years.
Warren Harding died in office.
Calvin Coolidge lived less than 4 years

Herbert Hoover lived another 31 years.
Franklin Roosevelt died in office.
Harry Truman lived not quite 20 years.
Dwight Eisenhower lived another 8 years.
John Kennedy died in office
Lyndon Johnson lived another 4 years.

Richard Nixon lived almost 20 years.
Gerald Ford lived almost another 30 years
Jimmy Carter is at 31 years and still going
Ronald Reagan lived another 15 years.
George H.W. Bush is at 19 years and still going
Bill Clinton is still going
George W. Bush is still going.

I remember that between 1961 and 1964, it was taken as something special that there were three living ex-presidents. (I still have a newspaper clipping around somewhere showing them all at Kennedy's inauguration.) Except for a few weeks in early 1969, that wouldn't happen again until 1981.

But when Reagan left office in 1989, it went up to four. It briefly went up to five in 1993-94, after George H.W. Bush left office and before Nixon died. And it's been either four or five ever since.

Ex-presidents are getting to be like space junk. They no longer serve much public purpose, but they stay up there in orbit, getting in the way and making everyone's life more difficult.

[SoutherDem]

29. I heard about Presidential Pensions just this past Saturday

From what I understood before Truman there wasn't a pension. But, he was broke and unlike others didn't want to cheapen the office by endorsements, selling speeches, and "writing" books. Likewise, ex presidents can't go to work at the local JCPenney.
So, they created the pension, and an expense account because they are still representing the U.S.
Well, if they still felt it would cheapen the office a pension is fine. But, they don't feel that way anymore, they are making money right and left on the name of the office. We have given them a way to make millions that should be pension enough.

[MichiganVote]

34. Obscene. These charge offs are totally out of line.

What the hell do I have to do with the postage of George Bush!

[mysuzuki2]

41. He coudn't possibly have a phone bill that high.

After all, he doen't have any teenage kids in the house anymore.

[gauguin57]

42. I'll bet there are boxes from QVC all over the Bushes' porch!

Whatever he was buying during all those phone calls, he bought one in every color!