<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>I don't. I think we need to make the Presidency a position that anyone can hold, not just the rich. No person could stand the endless letters, phone calls, and public attention that could be abated with just a pension and a secret service detail, unless they were multi-millionaires. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I also think most former presidents still have a wealth of knowledge and skills that are still of great value to the US population and sitting presidents and lawmakers that can they still can use to continue the best interests of the country. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think former presidents should be afforded the same accommodations and assistance as a US senator or cabinet member. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Best Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan<BR><BR>--- On <B>Sat, 1/24/09, Tom Hansen <I><thansen@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">From: Tom Hansen <thansen@moscow.com><BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Wallet Feeling Light?<BR>To: vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Date: Saturday, January 24, 2009, 9:11 AM<BR><BR><PRE>It is my strong opinion that a former president should NOT be entitled to
any more than a pension and protective services by the Secret Service.
Courtesy of KHQ at:
http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?S=9711747
------------------------------------------------------------
Wallet feeling light? The cost of supporting a president
SPOKANE, Wash. - In 1958 Former President Harry Truman was living solely
on his WWI army pension and told Congress he couldn't even afford postage
stamps for "official business." Congress immediately responded with
the
Presidential Pension act of 1958, giving Truman a retirement salary of
$25,000, benefits and a staff.
Today taxpayers are supporting our former presidents to the tune of more
than $2.9 million. Their yearly salary pension is $191,000. Aside from
that, each gets a staff; that staff costs you, the taxpayer, $96,000 per
president. Among the amenities we pay for is rent for their office space -
President Clinton's rent in Harlem is $516,000 a year, while the first
President Bush spends $69,000 a year on "equipment" and President
Jimmy
Carter spends $83,000 a year on "other services". The spending
doesn't
stop there.
We are paying for President Bush's subscription to the Wall Street Journal
which costs $242 a year and he spends money on office furniture at
<SPAN>Brookstone</SPAN>. His total for supplies in just January of 2006 alone was
$7,538.
Former President Bill Clinton seems to spend the most across the board.
His phone bill from the records KHQ received from 2006 cost taxpayers
$105,000. We also pay for the satellite TV in his office, complete with
eight separate receivers and all the movie channels that come with
the "entertainment package". Your cost? $1,800 per year.
Congress regulates and approves this money for our former presidents, all
of which have a net worth in millions and tens of millions. In retirement,
President Bill Clinton's speaking fees earned him more than $40 million in
addition to the $12 million his book deals have put in his pocket since he
left office.
It all begs the question, why are taxpayers subsidizing ex-presidents who
are millionaires?
Washington Senator Patty Murray had this answer, "We expect a lot from our
presidents when they retire. They still are a very important part of our
Democracy, an important part of our discussion; we look to them for a lot
of input still on issues that face this Country."
If you are wondering why President Jimmy Carter hasn't been mentioned
much, it's because he spends far less. In 2008 he spent $518,000, less
than half of President Clinton's $1.1 million, the first Bush 41 fell
somewhere in between.
With the budget getting bigger and bailouts in the billions, retirement
has never looked scarier for many Americans, unless you can
go "presidential".
------------------------------------------------------------
Seeya round town, Moscow.
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
"For a lapsed Lutheran born-again Buddhist pan-Humanist Universalist
Unitarian Wiccan Agnostic like myself there's really no reason ever to go
to work."
- Roy Zimmerman
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</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table><br>