Now, here’s a programthat I didn’t even know existed, but I’m not surprised to find George W. Bush as the worst abuser of it.
You know what W looks like so I went to google images and typed in “cool pictures,” and this is what I got
Apparently, former U.S. presidents get an annual allowance for “office expenses, staff and travel” even though they are technically unemployed, and they’re all rich anyway. It bothers me that as they gallivant around the country, raking in huge fees for giving short speeches at college graduations and such, the government (the public) has to foot the bill for their travel.
The allowance is not a fixed amount, so I guess they just submit an estimate of costs to congress and congress cuts them a check.
W is asking for the most money for next year, at 1.3 million buckaroos. Jimmy Carter is the most modest, at just over 500k. Admittedly, in the grand scheme of things it’s small potatoes. It’s the principle of the thing, not the amount.
Except for one particular amount that makes me curious. He asked for $85,000 to pay his phone bill. That’s 5 times what his dad, who was the second most expensive on the phone front, asked for. (Bill Clinton was the 2nd most expensive overall).
How the hell does anybody have an $85,000 phone bill? Where is he calling, Mars?
I know many people (mostly women) who have more than one phone and are pretty much constantly talking to somebody. They’ll interrupt one call to take another, then go back to the first. I’m absolutely certain none of them pay $85,000 a year in phone bills.
Phone calls just don’t cost that much any more. With Skype, you can even have a super futuristic video call to somebody on another continent, and it costs pretty much nothing.
No, the only way he could possibly have a phone bill of $85,000 a year is if he’s got a phone bank set up, a room full of poorly paid staffers with land lines on folding tables, coffee and cigarettes, with Karl “Turdblossom” Rove walking up and down the aisles shouting encouragement like a football coach, and the only reason he would have that, since he’s not actually in office, is to call people and ask them for money for his museum or some such shit.
I suspect that’s exactly what’s going on. Congress should look into it. If they aren’t going to scrap the program (tightening the old belt, you know), they should at least get an itemization on that part of it.
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