Obama Becomes The Nation’s Most Costly Former President
According to a new Congressional Research Service memo…
Taxpayers will spend more than $1 million in the fiscal year 2018 to provide former President Barack Obama with office space, a six-figure pension and other perks, making Obama the most costly president to support of the five living ex-presidents.
Overall, Obama will cost taxpayers $1,153,000 next year, according to a Congressional Research Service memo.
Obama’s total budget request amounts to more than $100,000 above the amount expected to be spent on former President George W. Bush, and about $200,000 higher than what former President Bill Clinton will get.
The United States will spend about $942,000 on former President George H.W. Bush and about $456,000 on former President Jimmy Carter.
Prior to Obama’s departure from office, George W. Bush had been the former president with the highest annual budget.
Presidents often gain significant income after they leave office. Obama, for instance, has already received $800,000 for two speeches.
Every former president receives money for an office, as well as an expense budget and usually a pension.
Carter, who only served one term in office and had no other federal employment, receives less than the other presidents because he was a federal employee for fewer than five years.
George H.W. Bush, also a one-term president, spent eight years as former President Ronald Reagan’s vice president, and had an extensive federal career before assuming elected office.
The 1958 Former Presidents Act was designed to ensure that past commanders in chief do not face the plight of former President Harry Truman, who was hard-pressed for income after he left the White House.
The act also included support for the widows of former presidents, and had been supporting former first lady Nancy Reagan until her death.
Money for renting office space makes up a significant part of the costs for former presidents. Obama’s 8,198-square-foot office in Washington, D.C., will cost $536,000 next year. Clinton’s 8,300-square-foot New York City office will cost $518,000.
George W. Bush’s Dallas office will cost $492,000 in rent, while his father’s Houston office costs $286,000. Carter’s Atlanta office costs $115,000.
Read the rest at: Kept President
