WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush’s “after-life,” as Laura Bush calls the post-presidency, is shaping up to be pretty comfortable, with a Dallas office, staffers, Secret Service protection, a travel budget, medical coverage and a $196,700 annual pension, all at taxpayers’ expense.
The above article is mainly about how the president’s Secret Service protection expires after ten years, which is something new. But the general details of his benefits package just staggered me. It’s another reminder that every four years, we vote for a major investment — and not just in terms of the economy or national fiscal policy, but we end up carrying President X or Y for the rest of their natural lives.
So even after he’s gone, you and I get to pay for his airplane peanuts and mountain bike scrapings.
