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Amusing

Order of Presidential Succession

March 7, 2009 gags

This stuff is always good to know… especially in these times.

According to the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, the Senate president pro tempore¹ was next in line after the vice president to succeed to the presidency, followed by the Speaker of the House.

In 1886, however, Congress changed the order of presidential succession, replacing the president pro tempore and the Speaker with the cabinet officers. Proponents of this change argued that the congressional leaders lacked executive experience, and none had served as president, while six former secretaries of state had later been elected to that office.

The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, signed by President Harry Truman, changed the order again to what it is today. The cabinet members are ordered in the line of succession according to the date their offices were established.

Prior to the ratification of the 25th Amendment in 1967, there was no provision for filling a vacancy in the vice presidency. When a president died in office, the vice president succeeded him, and the vice presidency then remained vacant. The first vice president to take office under the new procedure was Gerald Ford, who was nominated by Nixon on Oct. 12, 1973, and confirmed by Congress the following Dec. 6.

The Vice President Joseph Biden
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
President pro tempore of the Senate¹ Robert Byrd
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Attorney General Eric Holder
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke²
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood
Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

NOTE: An official cannot succeed to the Presidency unless that person meets the Constitutional requirements.
1. The president pro tempore presides over the Senate when the vice president is absent. The president pro tempore is elected by the Senate, but by tradition the position is held by the senior member of the majority party.
2. Pending confirmation.

Source

Amusing

Today’s Currency

February 18, 2009 gags

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Amusing

Taxpayers Subsidizing Ex-Presidents Who are Millionaires

January 22, 2009 gags

It’s a privilege and honor to serve as president, and ex-presidents are afforded great opportunities after leaving office. Burdening the taxpayers for the rest of their lives should not be among them especially if the former President can afford to pay their own bills.

Wallet feeling light? The cost of supporting a president

In 1958 Former President Harry Truman was living solely on his WWI army pension and told Congress he couldn’t even afford postage stamps for “official business.” Congress immediately responded with the Presidential Pension act of 1958, giving Truman a retirement salary of $25,000, benefits and a staff.

Today taxpayers are supporting our former presidents to the tune of more than $2.9 million. Their yearly salary pension is $191,000. Aside from that, each gets a staff; that staff costs you, the taxpayer, $96,000 per president. Among the amenities we pay for is rent for their office space – President Clinton’s rent in Harlem is $516,000 a year, while the first President Bush spends $69,000 a year on “equipment” and
President Jimmy Carter spends $83,000 a year on “other services”. The spending doesn’t stop there.

We are paying for President Bush’s subscription to the Wall Street Journal which costs $242 a year and he spends money on office furniture at Brookstone. His total for supplies in just January of 2006 alone was $7,538.

Former President Bill Clinton seems to spend the most across the board. His phone bill from the records KHQ received from 2006 cost taxpayers $104,000. We also pay for the satellite TV in his office, complete with eight separate receivers and all the movie channels that come with the “entertainment package”. Your cost? $1,800 per year.

Congress regulates and approves this money for our former presidents, all of which have a net worth in millions and tens of millions. In retirement, President Bill Clinton’s speaking fees earned him more than $40 million in addition to the $12 million his book deals have put in his pocket since he left office.

It all begs the question, why are taxpayers subsidizing ex-presidents who are millionaires?

If you are wondering why President Jimmy Carter hasn’t been mentioned much, it’s because he spends far less. In 2008 he spent $518,000, less than half of President Clinton’s 1.1 million, the first Bush 41 fell somewhere in between.

With the budget getting bigger and bailouts in the billions, retirement has never looked scarier for many Americans, unless you can go “presidential”.