Obama Is Now the Most Costly Former PresidentBut in 2012, when AP looked at the taxpayer cost of ex-presidents, expenses for George W. Bush were greater:
After his pension, an office space, and other perks, former President Obama is costing taxpayers the most to support out of all the ex-presidents.
Next year, the American people will be footing his bill to the tune of $1,153,000, according to a Congressional Research Service memo. This figure is more than $100,000 higher than President George W. Bush’s request and roughly $200,000 more than President Clinton’s. Former President George H.W. Bush will receive $942,000 and President Carter will bring in $456,000.
George W. Bush tops list of ex-presidents' expenses in 2012 at $1.3 millionThe AP story explained why W was #1:
... The most exclusive club in the world has a similarly exclusive price tag - nearly $3.7 million, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. That's how much the federal government spent last year on the four living ex-presidents and one presidential widow.
Topping the list in 2012 was George W. Bush, who got just over $1.3 million last year.
Departing presidents also get extra help in the first years after they leave office, one reason that Bush's costs were higher than other living ex-presidents. The most recent ex-president to leave the White House, Bush was granted almost $400,000 for 8,000 square feet of office space in Dallas, plus $85,000 in telephone costs. Another $60,000 went to travel costs.And this was in 2012. Bush had been out of office since January '09. Obama just left office a few months ago.
Look, you can question whether ex-presidents still need to have their non-security expenses paid by the taxpayers -- after all, they tend to get big book deals, and can make a lot of money other ways.
But Obama's cost to taxpayers isn't unusual or unprecedented. He won't be the costliest ex-president for very long. And I don't even want to think about how much we'll be ponying up for the current president when he steps down.
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