Here’s an idea: How ‘bout having Obama pay for his own expenses?
At $250,000 per speech, four speeches would just about cover it all.
Former President Barack Obama is about to become the most expensive ex-president, costing taxpayers $1,153,000 next year, according to a new Congressional Research Service memo looking at the official allowances for the five living former chief executives.
His $1,153,000 budget request for 2018 is more than $100,000 higher than George W. Bush’s request for next year and nearly $200,000 more than Bill Clinton’s expected budget. George H.W. Bush is slated to get $942,000, while Jimmy Carter will get less than half that, at just $456,000.
Every former president gets an office, expenses and, in some cases, an annual pension payment, thanks to a 1950s-era law enacted after former President Harry S. Truman struggled for income when he left the White House in 1953….
Mr. Obama’s pension payment is also the highest, at $236,000. Mr. Clinton is second with $231,000, followed by the younger Mr. Bush at $225,000, the CRS memo says, citing figures from the General Services Administration, which administers the 1958 Former Presidents Act.
Penguin Random House gave the Obamas $65 million for a book from each.
In a way, similar to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, public bears cost and profit goes to the insiders.