Politics

Obama Vetoes Bill that Would Cut Bloated Pay of Ex-Presidents

The infamous Obama smirk (Youtube).
The infamous Obama smirk (Youtube).

“I have worked to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how their tax dollars are spent.” – Barack Obama

Not since the heady days of Camelot has an American president not taken a paycheck for being the nation’s Chief Executive. Well, Jack Kennedy technically accepted a salary, but as a congressman, senator and finally as president, he donated all of his pay to various charities.

Fast forward to the present day, Republican Donald Trump has publicly stated he would only accept $1 per year. As it turns out, if and when Trump wins the White House, in order to be classified as a government employee (President of the United States), he must accept at least $1 per annum.

Yet in regards to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Barack Obama once famously stated, “I have worked to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how their tax dollars are spent.”

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But as reported by the Washington Examiner, one of the few places the average citizen could find the reality of Obama’s version of “rebuilding trust with the taxpayers” would be on their web portal. As reported, Obama has vetoed a bill that would curtail the millions of dollars the American works pump into the bank accounts of ex-presidents.

Sponsored by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 2016 just met an unceremonious death at the end of Obama’s ink pen.

As the folks at the non-partisan GovTrack.us have translated the legislation from legalese to standard English;

The current law is the Former Presidents Act of 1958, under which ex-presidents receive an annual pension equivalent to the pay of a current Cabinet member, which this year is $203,700. (The president receives $400,000 a year while in office.) Pensions have totalled tens of millions of dollars since the program began.

What it does and how it works

Under the new bill, pensions would be reduced by however much an ex-president makes above $400,000 a year. For example, let’s say Obama makes $480,000 in his first year out of office through fees from speeches and book sales. He would lose $80,000 from his pension, leaving him with about $120,000 paid for by taxpayers.

In other words, if an ex-president makes $600,000 or more in a given year, they would have the full $200,000 deducted from their pensions. Taxpayers wouldn’t be on the hook for paying them anything.

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