At this point, I think Fox News has all but given up. They know that Hillary Clinton will run and they probably know that she’ll win, but that doesn’t mean they won’t pull out all the stops in attacking her, just to see if something will stick.
This time, they’re attacking her husband; specifically, they’re attacking his perfectly legal government benefits as an ex-president. What they’re only sort of telling us, though, is that George W. Bush has been far from frugal with his government benefits.
According to Fox and Politico, Bill Clinton has received almost $16 million since he left office in pension, personnel and benefits. That’s more than any ex-president.
Okay, let’s think about that for a moment. Clinton left office in 2001. He served two full terms. The only other living ex-presidents prior to Clinton were George H.W. Bush, who served one term, and Jimmy Carter who also served one term, 35 years ago. It stands to reason that he would have a larger pension than Bush I or Carter.
George W. Bush served two terms, but he only left office six years ago, and still, on a yearly basis, he collects more than Clinton, but the media is completely ignoring that.
Both receive a pension of $201,000. Both receive personnel compensation, which is designed to help run their post-presidency office, of $96,000. Clinton receives $61,000 in personnel benefits and Bush, $88,000. Clinton’s health benefits are cheaper than Bush’s and they both charge very similar amounts for office space - Clinton to help run his foundation and Bush - to paint feet?
Bush spends $102,000 on telephones while Clinton spends just $9,000. Bush has Clinton beat with nearly everything else for a total of $950,000 a year for Clinton and $1,287,000 a year for Bush. Yes, Clinton has collected more, but only because he’s been out of office eight years longer.
Image via Congressional Research Service
It may be excessive that so much of our tax dollars are going to support ex-presidents and their post-presidential aspirations. That’s certainly a discussion worth having, but to claim that this is a scandal on Clinton is disingenuous. The generous funding is likely to encourage ex-presidents to do exactly what Clinton is doing, helping the world. If anyone is squandering taxpayer money, it’s George W. Bush.
Featured image via Wikipedia.
Send to Kindle
